about the book
After a terrorist’s explosion kills her parents and her dad is implicated as the bomber, Hannah is left caring for her grandmother. In dire straits financially and worried about her grandmother’s need for surgery, Hannah turns to charming Olga, who promises to find a nanny job for her with a wealthy family in the United States. She’ll be paid $400 a week to care for the children and do a little light housekeeping.
Hannah is aware of human trafficking, but surely that can’t be happening in the “land of milk and honey.” Going to America will give her a chance to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor, and the wages will be more than enough to help her grandmother. She has no other option.
But even before she leaves Moldova, things go wrong. Her passport is taken and she is given false documents. After a horrendous journey to LA, she finds herself in a nightmare, virtually enslaved by the Platonovs. She is not allowed to leave their house, use the phone, or send letters home to her grandmother.
Besides caring for a toddler boy and a young girl, Hannah must work long hours keeping the house clean for the abusive mother. Every day, she is sexually harassed by the father, who works for a Russian crime boss. At night Hannah sleeps in the windowless garage. And she is not paid. They say she must pay back all her travel expenses first.
If Hannah tries to run or go to the authorities, they’ll turn her into immigration, harm her grandmother, or worse, give her to the crime boss who traffics in sex slaves. Alone and disposable, with little English, no money, no legal documents, and no one to turn to, Hannah’s only hope for is to keep the Platonovs happy long enough for things to get better. But what if they don’t?
about the author
Kim Purcell grew up in Prince George in northern Canada. She wrote her first book in fifth grade. It was not brilliant but it changed her life, because it made her realize that having a vivid imagination was a good thing. Before that, report cards stating “Kim tends to daydream” were not positive.
A super imagination was fine for a youngster, but it made her teen years tough. She was bullied badly for being different, which has compelled her to write for teens.
After studying International Relations and English at the University of British Columbia, she traveled to Mexico and Central America, documenting her yearlong travels in Spanish. Deciding to take a practical route to a career in telling stories, she returned to Canada to get a broadcast journalism degree from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
After graduation, Kim moved to Korea to be a freelance journalist, teach English, and travel. She also wrote her first novel—which was not publishable. She met her husband at the school, and they returned to Los Angeles where she continued to teach English, wrote articles for the PBS website, and wrote her second novel—and rewrote it—again and again. Nobody wanted to publish it.
Her novel Trafficked came about while she was working with WriteGirl, a program that pairs writers with teen girls. Kim became aware of human trafficking, and thinking of the girls in the program, knew she had to bring about an awareness of this contemporary domestic and sexual slavery problem.
Kim and her family now make their home in New York City. She currently teaches creative writing workshops, visits schools, and uses her super imagination to plot her newest book!
Source:
Author website
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