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A review by katykelly
I Kick and I Fly by Ruchira Gupta
5.0
Hits hard, like its heroine. Distressing story that invigorates and educates.
Sadly this is based on real people, places and events. The author describes her reasons for writing it at its close, and readers will probably not be surprised that stories like this are not simply made up.
So as an example of being born into hardship, Heera brings us brutally into her reality - as a teenage girl born to a low-caste family unable to rise from the roofless hovel they share in a Red Light district in India, surrounded by brothels and gambling dens. Too hungry to study in school, mocked for her origins and fate, Heera knows it is just a matter of time until her drunkard father sells her into the same sexual slavery that has taken cousins and friends.
A brother has aspirations towards academia, her mother cannot afford medicine for Heera's sick sister despite daily back-breaking labour. Her cousin next door is sold regularly by her own brother to men on request. Heera and her family are tied and bound and the reader isn't spared the descriptions of their poverty.
But she is not helpless. When things seem at their darkest after she is expelled for confronting a bully, Heera is given refuge at a hostel for girls. A refuge not only for her physical safety, but somewhere she finds she can also learn to defend herself. With martial arts. And through this, learn about bodily autonomy, freedom and aspiration.
This story has plenty of moments that will shock and upset, but it's an empowering book and set of characters, with the aim of educating and inspiring. I very much enjoyed the novel and hope it shines a light on a hugely topical issue that goes unseen.
Not just a book for young women, the trade in human trafficking affects parents, children, brothers, sisters and as such this story should be passed around in schools widely.
For ages 12 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
Sadly this is based on real people, places and events. The author describes her reasons for writing it at its close, and readers will probably not be surprised that stories like this are not simply made up.
So as an example of being born into hardship, Heera brings us brutally into her reality - as a teenage girl born to a low-caste family unable to rise from the roofless hovel they share in a Red Light district in India, surrounded by brothels and gambling dens. Too hungry to study in school, mocked for her origins and fate, Heera knows it is just a matter of time until her drunkard father sells her into the same sexual slavery that has taken cousins and friends.
A brother has aspirations towards academia, her mother cannot afford medicine for Heera's sick sister despite daily back-breaking labour. Her cousin next door is sold regularly by her own brother to men on request. Heera and her family are tied and bound and the reader isn't spared the descriptions of their poverty.
But she is not helpless. When things seem at their darkest after she is expelled for confronting a bully, Heera is given refuge at a hostel for girls. A refuge not only for her physical safety, but somewhere she finds she can also learn to defend herself. With martial arts. And through this, learn about bodily autonomy, freedom and aspiration.
This story has plenty of moments that will shock and upset, but it's an empowering book and set of characters, with the aim of educating and inspiring. I very much enjoyed the novel and hope it shines a light on a hugely topical issue that goes unseen.
Not just a book for young women, the trade in human trafficking affects parents, children, brothers, sisters and as such this story should be passed around in schools widely.
For ages 12 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.