The King of Mulberry Street–by Donna Jo Napoli

Napoli, Donna Jo.  The King of Mulberry Street.  New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2005.

Beniamino’s family in Napoli, Italy, is very poor, but pretty happy.  They have each other, they have enough food to get by, and most importantly they have their Jewish faith.  When his mother wakes him up very early one morning and asks him to be very quiet while they sneak out of the house, Beniamino is excited at the surprise trip and enjoys spending time with his mom.  But then she gives him some rather mysterious instructions:

“‘First of all, simply survive…Watch, like you always do, watch and learn and do whatever you have to do to fit in.  Talk as little as possible–just watch and use your head…Nothing can stop you, tesoro mio.  Remember, you’re special, a gift from the Most Powerful One.  As soon as you can, get an education.  Be your own boss…Don’t undress with anyone around.  Ever.  Swear to me.”  (p. 23-24)

Just like that, he finds himself stowed away on a cargo ship, on his way to America.  Alone.  He vows to fight his way back to his mother in Napoli, and he does fight fiercely…but how much fight can you put up with no home, no family, no knowledge of English, no money, and no place to turn for help?

“Nothing was going right…I went back to the alley with the dead dog.  I threw pieces of a crushed wooden box into a half-empty barrell to make a clean layer on top of whatever was inside.  Then I climbed in…I recited every one of Nonna’s charms I could remember–charms to keep evil at bay.  That was where I spent my first night in America…” (p. 84)

Sold–by Patricia McCormick

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

You probably know that in many parts of the world, kids your age do not have the same kinds of freedoms and privileges you have.  Extreme poverty means a lot more than not getting to watch tv or join the soccer team; for 13-year-old Lakshmi in Nepal, poverty means surrendering everything to help her family survive.  When her step-father announces that she must leave their village to find work as a maid in the city, Lakshmi is unhappy but willing.  As she leaves the village with the woman who appears to have hired her, though, things start looking fishy, and they don’t get any better as she reaches the big city.

“Mumtaz studies me.  ‘Are you ready to go to work?’ she says in my language.  I nod and say yes, then nod again, although I do not understand how these city people do their chores in such fine clothes and uncomfortable shoes.  I follow Mumtaz down a hallway lined with tiny rooms.  We pass by girls sitting cross-legged on the floor.  Girls drawing on tiger eyes.  Girls spraying themselves with flower water.  Some of them stare at me.  Some take no notice.

“We go up some stairs, down another hallway, then into a room where an old man is lying on a bed.  His skin is yellow and he has tufts of hair poking out from his ears.  Mumtaz speaks kindly to him and I wonder if he is sick.  Across the hall, in another room, where a red cloth is hung across the doorway, I hear the sound of grunting.  It is a strange, animal sound that makes me shudder.  Mumtaz points to me and says something to the old man.  He licks his palm and smoothes down his hair.  They do not seem to notice the grunting.  Then it stops.  The red cloth is pulled back.  And a man stands in the hallway zipping his pants.  I look down at my red-painted nails and my new shoes.  Something is not right here.  I don’t know what is going on, but it is not right, not right at all.”  (p. 102-103)

And it’s not right.  Lakshmi has been sold into the illegal sex trade in India, and her only way out…well, it isn’t a way out at all…