Just Read

SUMMARY:
This novel is based on the life of Iqbal Masih, a child slave in Pakistan and his quest to abolish child slavery in Pakistan. Iqbal arrives at a carpet factory run by Hussain Khan, a merciless man who deprives his child workers of a decent life. The children working for Khan were sold into slavery by their debt-ridden families and must work weaving threads making carpets to work off their debt (though they never work off the debt). The working conditions are abhorrent, and the children who misbehave spend days in a "tomb", deprived of food and water and attacked by scorpions and insects. Iqbal tells the enslaved children that there has to be a way out of their misery. After a few escape attempts, Iqbal finally attracts the attention of the Bonded Liberation Front of Pakistan who free the children and return them to their families. Iqbal continues his crusade to free children and speak out against slavery. In 1994 Iqbal won the Reebok Human Rights Youth in Action award for his efforts. One year later, on Easter Sunday, he was murdered. He was only 13 years old.

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
- likes biographical works
- enjoys true human rights stories
- could display social activism
- is of Pakistani descent
- is interested in “real stories” about “real people”

WHAT ELSE?
This book was an “International Reading Association Teachers' Choice" winner and was selected a “Notable Book For A Global Society." The topic of child labor may be sensitive to any students who have been in the situation or had relatives involved, so be aware.

RELATED LINK:
There is also a website, http://www.mirrorimage.com/iqbal/index.html , that is sponsored by an elementary school raising money to fund Iqbal's dream of abolishing child labor and establishing schools for Pakistani children.