Trafficking Books for Teens: A Round-Up

I rarely visit a public restroom these days without seeing a notice for women who are in troubling situations: the text usually reads, “Need Help? Call xxx-xxx-xxxx” along with an image of a desperate young woman. Trafficking is big business, but it’s also an issue that demands discernment, particularly with our children. How much do we tell them? How do we talk about hard things?

Books can help! But some trafficking books for teens (or, marketed to teens) offer too many details, details that will shock young readers without simultaneously moving them to prayer and/or action. Below, we’ve got some notable titles for you that tread into these troubling waters with delicacy, compassion, and honesty. Parents and educators, if in doubt, read the book first before handing it off to a young reader.

Trafficking Books for Teens: A Round-Up

*Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkins. Square Fish, 2020. 432 pages.

Reading Level: Teens, ages 15 and up

Recommended For: Ages 15 and up

After years of practicing Brazilian jujitsu, Katina, or Kat, has the skills to fight off a sexual predator at her school.  But she can’t fight off the emotional scars. Ravi, adopted as an infant from India, has been restless and unhappy lately. The two meet up at church, and they learn about an opportunity to go with the pastor to India. Any older teens who want to come along could make themselves useful at Arjun’s ministry for victims of sex trafficking. Kat’s experience with sexual aggression prods her to take the challenge. Robin wants to find out more about his birth mother.

The story is a page-turner, unfolding exotic locations and a multicultural cast of characters expertly balanced.  The plot includes danger, adventure, suspense, humor, and a dash of romance—and it doesn’t go where you think it will.  Though not a “Christian” novel, in that there’s no gospel presentation and no conversions, Christian faith is a powerful presence and motivator throughout.  The expectations of the two main characters lead them in unexpected directions that allow them to mature and grow, in faith and in purpose.  Though the story deals with some tough issues, making it more suitable for older teens, readers will find the time well spent. Adapted from our earlier, full (and starred) review.

• Worldview/moral value: 5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

*A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot. Revell, 2005 (reprint). 384 pages.

Reading Level: Teen/Adults, ages 15 and up

Recommended For: Ages 15 and up

Amy Carmichael’s story is a familiar one, but it’s worth reading Elliot’s nuanced account of this famous British missionary. I checked in with Mitali Perkins (author of the book just mentioned above) who told me India widely regards Amy as a hero. Why? She rescued so many from temple prostitution, educated so many young women, and bravely entered communities previously untouched by the gospel. Elliot’s account reveals a women with single-hearted devotion to the Lord who called her, single-minded focus in her pursuits, and, sometimes, a blindness to real issues and needs that didn’t enter into her narrow focus.

Amy Carmichael’s story is one of hope and zeal, a tremendous companion read for teens who may have read one of the other books on this list (especially Forward Me Back to You). After all, only the gospel can bring true hope to desperate people. Those of us who claim to be Christ-followers would do well to carry that gospel hope into the darkest regions. Note: this is a biography of a Christian, but it is for teens and up; Elliot handles the subject matter with tact, but she is straightforward about the effects of child marriage on young women, the nature of temple prostitution, and the like.

• Worldview/moral value: 5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.75

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur. Feiwel & Friends, 2021. 384 pages.

Reading Level: Teens, ages 15 and up

Recommended For: Ages 15 and up

From page one, The Forest of Stolen Girls is an ominous read. Nothing graphic occurs, but Hur’s tone and the mystery into which she plunges her readers breathes sinister atmosphere. In 1426 Joseon (Korea), young women aren’t detectives, but Hwani is determined to uncover details about a crime she witnessed on an island as a young girl. The only other witness? Her estranged sister, Maewol, left behind on the same island in the care of a shaman. Hwani dresses as a man in order to stay undercover, travels to the island, and begins to search for clues. What she uncovers is increasingly disturbing: within recent months, 13 girls have gone missing from this small community. Is her sister also in danger? What is really going on?

Astute readers will realize before Hwani that the stolen girls are being sent as “tribute girls,” in place of rich families’ daughters, to the Emperor on the mainland, but the why’s and how’s remain unknown until near the novel’s end. What Hwani and Maewol uncover provides for the rescue and restoration of the stolen girls along with justice for crimes current and past. The idea of tribute girls crops up in many historical societies and isn’t too far removed from today’s human trafficking schemes. Part historical fiction, part mystery, this is one of the least graphic books in this round-up; suffice it to say, though, that is more spine-chilling than the previous two. A great read, but best for older teens. June Hur also wrote the fantastic mystery The Red Palace.

• Worldview/moral value: 4.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Sold by Patricia McCormick. Hyperion, 2008. 263 pages.

Reading Level: Teen/Adults, ages 15 and up

Recommended For: Ages 15 and up

By far the most graphic and achingly heartbreaking title on this list, Sold is a fictional verse novel that recounts, in intimate first-person narrative, the trauma a young girl faces when she leaves her Nepalese village for “work” in the big city (in India). Her step-father sells her to a woman who is recruiting “maids” for rich people, and who promises that Lakshmi will be well paid. When Lakshmi gets to “Happiness House,” she quickly realizes that she has not been sold as a maid. Rather, she has been sold into prostitution. And the madam of the house, Mumtaz, is determined to get her money’s worth. When Lakshmi balks at her new job, Mumtaz locks her in a room, drugs her, and lets men pay extra for the privilege of visiting a young woman who has never been with a man before.

Details could be more graphic, but this book doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Sound effects, anatomical references, and emotional responses are covered; additionally, Lakshmi’s experience with village poverty is also heartbreaking. Not for the faint of heart, Sold does open readers’ eyes to the desperation these young women face along with their inability to change their circumstances on their own. May books like this move us to pray for God to raise up more people like Amy Carmichael (above)!

• Worldview/moral value: 3.75
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Trafficking Books for Teens: A Response?

Trafficking books are not easy, whether for teens or anyone else. But we Christians are called to serve the least of these, to minister to the orphans and widows (many trafficked people are functionally orphans and widows). What resources have you found helpful for teen discussion? Where can you serve the least of these in your own community?

Other titles of interest include *Disappeared and Illegal (not yet reviewed) by Francisco X. Stork. Both cover trafficking across the Mexico-U.S.A. border in addition to drug use and other issues. Stork’s books are worth checking out for discussion starters in their own right, but they also provide a less-intense way to bring up the trafficking issue if you aren’t ready for the titles on this roundup.

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