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.

This book was an eye opener for me. To read about the struggles Shyima encountered, her vulnerability, isolation and subsequent rescue from a first person perspective really made the reader understand her complex dilemma. I purchased this book as a tool for my patients to read so they can understand the challenges of not having a basic education and the ability to communicate and how you are helpless in life without those life skills. A few of my patients came back and informed me the book was life changing for them, and some of the kids felt like they were not alone in their educational challenges after reading how difficult it was for Shyima to catch up after being denied school attendance as a child. This book should be a must read on every Middle/ High school reading list. I was happy to see the frank assessments Shyima detailed about her life and not the "Hollywood" style recollections that other memoirs utilize. Shymia had a matter of fact style and did not blame any particular culture, religion or sect regarding her enslavement.

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.

No one should ever do to anyone what people did to this girl. She was horribly mistreated, and this book tells that story. Unfortunately, the story doesn't have much *zap* to it beyond the basic elements. It's good, but not overly compelling.

Gift. was appreciated, no complaints

Inspirational. Good end to a tough story. Gives us all hope for a better tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your story.

Love this book. I'm not a book person but I just couldn't put it down

Excellent read

Good read.