But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. While this wasn’t one of my favorite books, nor did it fully explore the impact of human trafficking on a person, I do believe that it brings to light some of this issues related to human trafficking.Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small village in Nepal. I believe that this is an important issue and the novel works to highlight how someone could unknowingly get caught up in this dangerous world. I feel that the author could have explored this concept further and better without verse. However, I think it makes it harder to connect to the character. Perhaps this is the author’s way of showing the emotional impact on Angel because she was taken so young. The voice of the narrator is almost at the level of a five year old…though she is a teen. Angel starts to worry for her own safety and begins to seek for a way out. On top of that one of her friends, who is also caught up in the life disappears. After her pimp decides that she has become too old, he wants her to turn out a younger girl. Ultimately, she is taken from her family and forced into prostitution. My Book of Life by Angel by Martine LeavittĪngel was seduced when she was young by drugs and the attention of an older man. This book is a solid novel that addresses these issues and typically one of the first that is brought to mind when searching for novels about human trafficking. It is impossible to imagine how Lakshmi survives, but hope always finds a way. I was struck by the way t he novel presents a stark contrast of Lakshimi’s hope to her day-to-day struggles. While this book does address the very real issues facing those sold into sexual slavery, the novel does this in a way that is appropriate for its intended readers.

This is the harrowing, yet inspirational story of Lakshmi, a Nepalese child who is sold into a brothel. I have chosen to highlight two books which address these issues for teens. For more information visit their website. The UN sponsors the Blue Heart Campaign, which works to end these issues globally.

To read Obama’s address to the nation about this decision, visit the following website. President Obama ensured that prevention measures and awareness would continue to take place by marking the month of January as the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. January is a month that reminds Americans about the global issues related human trafficking and slavery.

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