Sold

75 pages • 2 hours read

Sold

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | YA | Published in 2006

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Download PDF

Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

PAGES 1-51

Reading Check

1. What does Lakshmi hope to buy with her cucumber money?

2. What does the stepfather do all day?

3. What does the stepfather win on the night of the festival?

4. What type of position is Lakshmi encouraged to seek?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Ama’s back stooped, both literally and figuratively?

2. Why is her friend Gita not around anymore?

Paired Resources

Hillside Village in Nepal

This 8-minute video shows clips from a hillside village in Nepal similar to where Lakshmi lives. It shows the rough terrain, steep paths, and rice fields.
Shared themes include How Gender Affects Childhood and The Importance of Hope, Faith, and Friendship in Overcoming Hardship.
How does this video change your understanding of how Lakshmi and her family live?

Tihar: The Festival of Lights

This article covers the legends and traditions of the festival that Lakshmi and her mother celebrate in this section.
A shared theme is The Importance of Hope, Faith, and Friendship in Overcoming Hardship.
How do the five days of celebration for Diwali reflect the values of the Nepalese people? Do these traditions have anything in common with the ones your family has for important holidays?

PAGES 52-104

Reading Check

1. What does Lakshmi call the woman she travels with to the city?

2. Whom does Lakshmi look for as they ride through the cities?

3. What punishment do girls suffer for trying to run away from their “husbands”?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why must Lakshmi call her “uncle” her “husband”?

2. What is the name of the brothel, and why is it ironic for Lakshmi?

Paired Resource

Myths and Facts About Human Trafficking

This resource provides myths and facts about the problem of human trafficking, including an infographic.
Shared topics include Deception and Truth and How Gender Affects Childhood.
What is the difference between trafficking and smuggling? Which do/does Lakshmi experience?

PAGES 105-159

Reading Check

1. How much did Mumtaz pay for Lakshmi?

2. Which American television show do the girls watch?

3. How old do the girls say they are?

4. What does Lakshmi steal from the errand boy?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mumtaz get Lakshmi to “work” for the first time?

2. What is unique about the speech pattern of Habib, the first person who violates Lakshmi?

3. What happened to the girl who took over Lakshmi’s role as newcomer in the locked room?

Paired Resource

David Beckham Profile

This official profile from David Beckham’s website gives a brief introduction to the internationally famous football star, businessman, and humanitarian.
Shared themes include The Importance of Hope, Faith, and Friendship in Overcoming Hardship.
How does the mention of people like Beckham contrast with the situation Lakshmi is in?

PAGES 160-215

Reading Check

1. What are the two languages that Harish is teaching Lakshmi?

2. What does Harish give Lakshmi for the festival of brothers and sisters?

3. What is the nationality of the man with the business card?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does one of the customers do that Lakshmi sees as a kindness?

2. What happens to Monica when she returns home to her village?

3. Why is Pushpa kicked out of Happiness House?

4. How does Monica comfort Lakshmi when Harish leaves?

PAGES 216-263

Reading Check

1. How many more years does Mumtaz say Lakshmi has before her debt is paid?

2. What special drink does the tea boy bring Lakshmi?

3. What does Lakshmi give the tea boy on his last day?

4. What “seeing box” does the American have?

5. Who does Lakshmi try to take with her at the end?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What question does Shilpa ask Lakshmi to warn her of danger?

2. How does Lakshmi get extra money from drunken customers?

3. What is the punishment for betraying Mumtaz?

Recommended Next Reads

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

In this novel-in-verse, Xiomara Batista is a young girl who finds strength in poetry but has to hide it from her mother, whose deep religious beliefs contrast dangerously with Xiomara’s need to be heard. The Poet X won the National Book Award and the Pura Belpré Award.
Connects to the themes of How Gender Affects Childhood and Deception and Truth
The Poet X on SuperSummary

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

Furia is a young Argentinian girl who dreams of getting a soccer scholarship to a North American university but must keep her athletic talents hidden from her ultra-strict parents. As she gets older, she has to make difficult decisions about who she wants to be.
Connects to the themes of How Gender Affects Childhood and Deception and Truth
Furia on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

PAGES 1-51

Reading Check

1. A new tin roof (“A Tin Roof”)

2. Gamble at the tea hut (Various poems)

3. A motorcycle (“Windfall”)

4. A housemaid in the city (“A Tiny Earthquake”)

Short Answer

1. Her back is stooped literally because she works hard in the fields and carries heavy jugs on her back. It is stooped figuratively because she carries the weight of her family’s struggles. (“Something Beautiful”)

2. She has gone into the city to work as a maid. She sends back her earnings to her family. (“A Tin Roof”)

PAGES 52-104

Reading Check

1. “Auntie” (Various poems)

2. Her friend, Gita (Various Poems)

3. Their heads are shaved so they can be easily identified and returned in the future. (“Disgraced”)

Short Answer

1. The papers that the man has state that they are husband and wife in order to cross the border without suspicion. (“Crossing the Border”)

2. It is called Happiness House, but it is the source of great pain and trauma for a lot of young women, including Lakshmi. (“Happiness House”)

PAGES 105-159

Reading Check

1. 10,000 Rupees (“Sold”)

2. The Young and The Restless (“What is Normal”)

3. Twelve (“Everything I Need to Know Now”)

4. A storybook (“Stealing from the David Beckham Boy”)

Short Answer

1. She gives her a drink that has sleeping drugs in it. (“A Cup of Lassi”)

2. He frequently refers to himself in the third person. (“Lucky to be with Habib”)

3. She hung herself with her shawl from the rafters. (“Everything I Need to Know Now”)

PAGES 160-215

Reading Check

1. English and Hindi (Various poems)

2. A yellow pencil (“A Gift”)

3. American (“A Strange Customer”)

Short Answer

2. He holds her after they have sex instead of immediately getting up and leaving. He also thanks her. (“An Accidental Kindness”)

3. Her parents met her outside the village bounds and beat her, begging her not to return home. They also told her daughter that she was dead. (“The Living Dead”)

4. She was too sick to work. (“Beyond Words”)

5. Monica offers her doll to Lakshmi to sleep with for a little while. (“Instead of Harish”)

PAGES 216-263

Reading Check

1. 5 years (“A Recalculation”)

2. A bottle of Coke (“A Coca-Cola”)

3. The white card she got from the American (“Stupidity”)

4. A digital camera (“Digital Magic”)

5. Anita (“The Words Harish Taught Me”)

Short Answer

1. She asks Lakshmi, “You actually believe what she told you?” as a way to help Lakshmi see the truth about Mumtaz. (Various poems)

2. She steals it from their wallets after they fall asleep. (“Whatever it Takes”)