15-year-old Roza thinks she's leaving Albania for better things in the UK. As she arrives, she realises her father has sold her to get out of debt. Adelina and Jozif Braka now consider Roza their property. They work her hard, beat and starve her, and refuse to let her go out. But she must tell people they are her parents. She runs to the police, but the Brakas produce a forged birth certificate. She is dismissed as attention-seeking and returned to them for punishment. She doesn't think life can get much worse. However, when she tries to escape, she's sent to a holding house full of other enslaved girls. This appears to be the first British YA novel to explore child trafficking. It should appeal to fans of Miriam Halahmy, Anne Cassidy, and Laurie Halse Anderson. 'A riveting read, well researched and very informative about a little known subject... powerful, gritty and engrossing... will attract both teen and adult readers. Essential, compelling, deeply moving.' - Miriam Halahmy
'Compulsively readable, harrowing yet hopeful, this YA debut shines a fierce light into the shadows of child trafficking.' THE GUARDIAN; 'A riveting read, well researched and very informative about a little-known subject... powerful, gritty and engrossing... will attract both teen and adult readers. Essential, compelling, deeply moving.' - MIRIAM HALAHMY, author of Hidden; 'SOLD deals with important issues within an exciting story. I was gripped from the first page and travelled with Roza on every step of her horrifying journey.' - CHERITH BALDRY (writes as ERIN HUNTER, Warrior Cats series); 'SOLD is a gripping adventure story about a very important real-world problem, told with conviction and plenty of hard-hitting detail. Roza's story is entirely believable.' - JANE JOHNSON, author and publisher;
Author
About Sue Barrow
SOLD is Sue Barrow's second novel. Her debut, Keeping Secrets, was published by Pont in 2006. She's also the author of Hometown Histories for both Cardiff and the South Wales Valleys. Sue has lived in Cardiff for most of her life. She loves walking the Wales coastal path, eating shellfish and beating her family at board games.
