The Book I Am Reading:
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

“Women hold up half the sky,” goes a Chinese saying, and authors Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – the first married couple to win Pulitzer Prizes – somehow find a way to both horrify and inspire readers as they explore the “deeply unequal status” of women. The authors pair shocking stories of cruelty and oppression with stories of hope and solutions for one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time.

Take the story of Meena Hasina, for example, an Indian woman kidnapped at 8 or 9 years old and sold into prostitution at 12 years old. Meena was beaten when she resisted and when that didn’t work, she was drugged. When she ran away to the police, they chastised her and sent her back. Knowing that her pimps planned to kill her, Meena fled to another town. Her pimps pursued and beat her regularly while demanding that she prostitute herself and turn over her earnings to them. Amazingly, a neighbor began to defend her and they soon married and started a family of their own. Now, Meena is a community organizer working to educate parents and children about forced prostitution.

It is a book that could have ended up preachy, but instead holds readers’ hands as they make their own revelations.

– Molly Schar, Executive Director, Ophthalmic Women Leaders

Carmen Caricchio is The Book I am Reading column editor. If you would like to submit a book review, please contact her. She can be reached at carmen@coactivepr.com.

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