When Patricia McCormick published her novel Sold in 2006, she never imagined it would someday become one of the most challenged books in the United States.
The critically acclaimed work, which tackles the harrowing subject of child sex trafficking through the story of a 13-year-old Nepali girl named Lakshmi, was written to educate young readers about a global crisis. It was not intended to stir controversy.
“Never, and it was the opposite,” said McCormick, 69, a New York-based, award-winning author and National Book Award finalist. “It’s a story about child sex trafficking. It’s supposed to be upsetting. But it’s not pornography.”
Defending libraries
Nearly 20 years after its release, Sold has been lauded for raising awareness about human trafficking and has become a staple in classrooms and libraries across the country. McCormick has spoken at numerous literary events nationwide, using the book as a reference for difficult but necessary conversations.
Those appearances, however, have dwindled in recent years amid a dramatic increase in book bans and challenges across American schools and libraries. McCormick continues to speak publicly and will appear at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Fairhope Public Library in Alabama. The event is open to the public and will center on topics including banned books and the importance of local libraries.
It comes as the culture wars over book availability and book bans continues to animate nationwide, including in Fairhope where disputes with state officials has led to a $42,000 “pause” to the library’s state funding.
“Librarians are the ones who are taking it on the chin,” McCormick said, referring to the post-pandemic wave of censorship efforts led by activists. “Librarians are being fired. They are being hassled whenever they go to the grocery store. They are called groomers. Their private information is being released for just doing their jobs.”
McCormick said she hopes her advocacy for public libraries will unite people across political divides. “I believe it’s something everyone can get behind,” she said.
“Sold” by Patricia McCormickHyperionFairhope’s plight
Her appearance in Fairhope comes at a time when the library itself is under scrutiny. It remains out of compliance with new “sexually explicit” book placement standards issued by the Alabama Public Library Service board, a policy that has led to heightened tensions over which books are deemed appropriate for young readers.
“Sold” is one of the books that has been read to APLS board members and held up as an example of content that should not be made available to teenagers under 18. The book, while shelved in the “Adult” section at the Ben May Branch of the Mobile Public Library, remains in the Young Adult section in Fairhope where it can be checked out by anyone age 13 and up.
Two pages within the 263-page book have created much of the controversy with “Sold.” They provide a description of a sexual assault, and the eventual muffled sounds of sobbing by the girl who is attacked.
“There is no graphic language,” McCormick said. “It describes her confusion. The feeling of betrayal. She’s 13. She doesn’t understand what is happening to her.”
McCormick added, “I am aware I am writing for other people’s children. If they are going to wade into a book about child sex trafficking, I want to be very careful with the language. It’s a brutal topic. I do not intend to brutalize them with the language.”
The language, though, runs afoul of the APLS’ version of the definition of what constitutes “sexually explicit.” The APLS, earlier this year, posted a definition on its website that considers “sexually explicit” as any visual, written, or audio content depicting sexual conduct that includes sexual intercourse, excitement, nudity, bestiality, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse or lascivious exhibition.
In Fairhope, the argument exists over the different interpretations of what constitutes “sexually explicit,” with the APLS taking a hardened stance that any passages within a book could make it eligible for relocation within a public library.
The Fairhope Library Board, after reviewing challenges to 37 books, decided that 24 of them should remain shelved primarily in the library’s teen section (age 13 to 17).
Rob Gourlay, the library’s director, said that “Sold” remained one of the books at issue. The library’s funding has yet to be reinstated. It’s unclear if that book, or a number of other books, is the main cause for the lack of restoring funding to the Fairhope Library.
The APLS decided in March to pause Fairhope library’s funding. Read Freely Alabama, a grassroots free speech advocacy organization that has fought restrictions on library content, then privately raised the money to replace the lost state funding.
“I think our community continues to be very supportive of this library and I’m very proud of that,” Gourlay said.
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