Today we have a guest review by my 14 year old daughter Sabella:
This book is about a 13 year old girl named Lakshmi who lives with her family in a small hut in the mountains of Nepal. Her family is REALLY poor, but her life is full of simple pleasures, like raising her black-and-white goat, and having her mother brush her hair. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
Her stepfather introduces her to a stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid working for a wealthy woman in the city. But when she gets to the city she ends up working for a horrible woman named Mumtaz. The place where Lakshmi works at is called “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
Lakshmi is forced to work there in till she can pay off her family’s debt. But Mumtaz cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave. To find out if Lakshmi ever leaves the “happiness house’’ you just have to read the book and find out.
Oh and I give it a 10/10.
