Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave

I remember reading about Shyima Hall in the news: a girl kept as a family slave, literally right under everyone’s nose. It’s one thing to hear about such things happening. It’s quite another to have it so close to home. (She was in Irvine in Orange County. I was living in Tustin, an adjacent city, during the time.) Some years later, when I heard about her memoir, Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave (Simon & Schuster, 2014), I was eager to have a chance to read her side of the story. The book begins with Shyima’s younger years in Egypt, her family plagued with financial difficulties. While the author doesn’t excuse her parents handing her over to work for another family, the book does show the reader why they probably felt they had no other choice. Kept as a slave, eight-year-old Shyima tolerated substandard living arrangements, received no education, and had no time for herself. It was work day and night. She kept track of time passed by the birthdays of her owners’ children. When her owners decided to move to the United States, they went to a lot of trouble to make sure Shyima joined them. Shyima’s life of slavery continued over here, until someone dropped an anonymous tip about the suspicious girl to the police. Now free, Shyima’s struggles didn’t end. She faced court trials, foster family drama, and the struggle of trying to find her place in a very different culture. But in the end, you can see that she’s happy and optimistic about life and eager to educate the American public about the modern-day slave trafficking problem. Hidden Girl is a great book, taking its reader through a whole range of emotions. Cowriter Lisa Wysocky did an excellent job keeping a very foreign and little girlish voice to the narrative. And it was encouraging for me to learn that the Orangewood Children’s Home (with which my old church had been involved) played a positive role in helping her. The book is good evidence that – even though there’s a lot of social and economic issues abroad – there are real problems here at home that need our attention too.

Hidden Girl by Shyima Hall is an empowering memoir about a human trafficking survivor who recounts her experiences of being sold into child slavery and what she did to overcome the trauma she experienced. This book encounters sensitive topics about abuse, exploitation, and grief along with uplifting themes about resiliency, loyalty and freedom through a first person perspective. Hidden Girl has proved to be a fan favorite receiving high ratings of 4.6 stars and obtaining the Mom’s Choice award along with the Junior Library Guild Selections - 2014. If you want a book that features a captivating story about the process of being trafficked and recovering from such trauma and tragedy, Hidden Girl is the book for you.

As I was reading the memoir Hidden Girl by Shyima Hall, I became aware of the fact that there’s things going on in people’s lives that we don’t understand. The book itself proves that some people really do have to go through these things. She touches on the cruel events she had to go through and encounter. She shows how resilient one can be and how to persevere through the really rough times. Even when the times were very draining on Shyima, she never gave up and later down the road she got the freedom she dreamed of. If you’re looking for an emotionally touching and true story, Hidden Girl is the book for you.

Shyima Hall wrote her autobiography, "Hidden Girl: A true story of a modern-day child slave" so that it is fast paced. While she goes into depth about her time as a slave and the next stages of her life, so much is happening that you as a reader become engrossed in the story. We are rooting for her the entire time as if we are right behind her hoping that the next stage in her life will be better than the last. As a reader, it is truly amazing as we get to watch her grow emotionally and academically to become a functional person in society after her years as a slave. While the vocabulary level isn't as high as most young adult books are, it was well written. She is telling her story as if she were simply talking to a friend. Which makes the book that much more compelling to read. Even though this book is intended for young adults, that is not the limit on who can read it. Anyone that wants to know about modern day slavery or wants to read something inspiring should definitely put this book on their list. It travels through her life through all her struggles and shows how she over comes being beaten (physically and verbally) and broken down on a daily basis by her captors.

This book was interesting to read. One should be able to start and finish this book in one day. It is very quick reading material. There are some hard to take and understand the horrid circumstances this fine young woman was subject to as a child And teenager. I am thankful that who ever saw her enduring such horrid conditions was brave enough to call the correct authorities and bring about an end to such treatment at the hands of others!

This book is a interesting story of a Egyptian girl,Shyima who was sold into slavery of her own parents.The family that owned her were cruel and didn’t care about her at all.This story was a huge eye opener for me,and I definitely recommend reading this book!

As someone who just read this book, I can say that it is definitely worth a read. This book is one that really open my eyes to the situation regarding modern day slavery. Having someone like Shyima who has gone through something as eventful and devastating as being a slave write about their situation, including details, events, and more, is nothing but interesting and makes you eager to turn the page. Reading a captured persons life story and somewhat putting yourself in their shoes really shows what modern day slavery is like and how horrific it really is. The way this book is laid out makes it easy to understand, but also displays the information and details nicely. If you want a book that is sure to show and teach a thing or two and strike your emotions, this is the one for you.

This is an interesting story of an Egyptian girl, Shyima, who was sold into slavery by her own parents! This is not uncommon for very poor large families.The family who owned her called her 'stupid girl' which stripped her of her identity. Finally they took her illegally to America and she continued to work as their slave. Eventually she became free, hardly realizing what that meant. Shyima became an American citizen and started a new free life, having to start her education late. She did a lot of work to speak out against slavery of this type. This is a good book, although not the best in writing style, but it gets the emotions and sad facts across. I have read a few books about domestic slaves and this one has a happier ending.