Sold by Patricia McCormick

Sold by Patricia McCormick

McCormick, Patricia. Sold. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks. 2006.

Genre: Fiction

Lexile: Adolescent

Sold is about a young girl, Lakshmi, who is sold into sex slavery. She is tricked into going to this wonderful town where she will be a maid for a fabulous family- but instead she is sold into prostitution, her master’s name is Mumtaz. Lakshmi is told she is captive until she can repay her debt to Mumtaz. She risks her life at the end of the book but will it pay off and she will be free? Or will it be the biggest mistake of her life?

This is a powerful book about young girls being sold into sex slavery in Nepal. The book may be inappropriate for young readers as it follows a young girl through her triumphs.

This book has many qualities of high literature including: Cognitive development, personality development, and social development. We see cognitive development in this novel for adolescents because they are able to understand the relationships throughout the book and begin to make connections between the characters and their relationships. In early adolescents students tend to be more emotionally developed and through this book their emotional developments are tested. This book could be a pathway to what some of their thoughts are anxieties are and because the girl uses those around her to confide in perhaps students would be more willing to do the same. Another quality that this book has is the basis for social development in students. Students in this age are beginning to recognize conflicts and emotions in others and are beginning to learn social rules. This book dives into several social issues and how they are dealt with. Students are being prompted into tough topics to discuss and begin to develop a larger social development.

Plot- The order of events is important in this book because how she gets to the prostitution is an important leading up information that the reader would need to understand the book. The plot also follows the main character as she develops herself more.

Setting- In this story the setting is important because by using Nepal the author is sharing a large social issue in today’s world. Even though there is sex trafficking throughout the world she specifically chose to focus on Nepal. By choosing this setting it allows the reader to imagine what it is like-smells, sights, and feelings.

Theme: Personal Development- From the beginning of the book Lakshmi is a strong character and throughout the story we see her develop as a person and develop her ideals and morals. In the end we see her ideals go into place and even though there is no sure outcome of her actions she stands strong on what she believes to be right.

Mini Lesson-By using this book it could be a segway into other social issues and students could research the issues and present or write about the findings.

Enjoyment- This book is geared to older adolescents, around grade 8-9 at its earliest. There are many difficult social issues brought up and readers need to have a mature mind to deal with the issues.

Lila and the Secret of Rain by David Conway & Jude Daly

Lila and the Secret of Rain by David Conway & Jude Daly

Conway, David, and Jude Daly. Lila and the Secret of Rain. London: Frances Lincoln, 2007.

Genre: Folktale

Lexile:

This book is a Kenyan folktale about the rain and how Lila was able to make it rain during the dry season because, “Without water there can be no life” (Conway). It is too hot to do anything- milk the cow, go to the field, or even gather firewood. Lila learns from her grandfather the secret of rain he learned from another boy.

This book embodies a folktale because of several different factors. The reader is brought quickly into the action of the story by the first few sentences. The characters in the folktale are “flat”- they are kept to a minimal description. The story starts with a typical beginning, not once upon a time but rather, “For weeks and weeks...” Lastly, the folktale reflects values/universal truths at that time.

This literature is also quality literature because of its theme, illustrations, and understanding and respect of the culture it is portraying. The illustrations are representative of the plot. When the rain doesn’t come and it is a sad time the colors in the illustration are dark and gloomy. You can also see the theme in the illustrations. The illustrators and authors have split apart the pages to show more than on theme or idea on each page. The folktale is representative of the culture and portrays in a meaningful way for children to understand.

The setting is important because the moral of the folktale takes place in of dryness and for students to picture the desert makes the story. The setting helps the reader to connect to the story so the strong sense of setting helps readers to be in Kenya with Lila. The setting also reflects an antagonist (person against nature conflict).

Mini-Lesson: After reading this book students could remember a folktale true to their lives and write about it. Or students could create their own folktales from their experiences.

Readability: This book is appropriate for children ­­preschool and up. This book could be used as a read aloud to younger children when learning about folktales, but also independently in more mature readers.