Sold by Patricia McCormick

First day of the new year and I've finished my first book-- Sold by Patricia McCormick. I went to the library yesterday, intending to spend a $25 dollar gift certificate on a list of books that had been recommended to me. I left with only this one, and a bit of a bad attitude. B&N apparently hadn't restocked since the holidays, and I couldn't find what I was looking for. In my frustration, I considered returning Sold, the only book I could find, to the shelf.
Thank God I didn't.
One of my resolutions this year was to read more nonfiction. With Sold, although it is a YA fiction book, I felt like I was reading a real account. McCormick tells the story of Lakshmi, a Nepali girl who has been sold into prostitution by her step-father. It was vivid, honest, and obviously well-researched. I read it in one sitting, unwilling to leave Lakshmi alone. Her confusion, sadness, fear, brief moments of happiness, and integrity in such a horrible situation seemed extremely accurate.
My only complaint was that the book was written in incremented semi-prose, so the 272 pages flew by like 100 pages. I've never been a huge fan of books like that; I like a full page of text to get my money's worth. However, I understand the purpose served by the writing style. It is short (sigh...) but too the point and succinct. McCormick artfully uses her style of writing to really show the feelings that young Lakshmi would have. Sold is written from Lakshmi's point of view, so it is an accurate style, though still not my favorite aspect of the book.
I would certainly recommend it, though it doesn't quite crack my list of favorite YA novels.
7.5/10