Ruchira Gupta

I Kick and I Fly by Ruchira Gupta
Scholastic fiction based on a true story. Trigger warnings of prostitution and slavery.
Heera is 14 and lives in a red light district in India. She’s known her whole life that she will end up sold into prostitution by her father. It’s simply the way of her culture and living economical condition.
Heera gets teased and bullied and ends up getting kicked out of school which leads her to a kung fu teacher and an opportunity to build her self confidence, her body’s muscles and maybe out of poverty.

It’s a difficult story of an impossibly hard environment. A culture of the status of women.
Meera is brave and determined and has the support of her brother and eventually her father is brought around after Heera wins a competition and kicks out a threat.
Ultimately hopeful.

I received a copy of this from the publisher.… (mais)

I truly hope to do this book justice. Let me begin by saying it should be in every library where teens are valued as patrons.
Heera's story begins in a sea of hopelessness, partly due to culture, partly due to circumstances, and partly due to family. She struggles in school because she's missed a lot and gets push back, especially from her father who gambles, drinks, and is saturated with hopelessness. Her family, which consists of her parents, older brother, and two younger sisters, exists in a hovel spanning an alley that would make a rusting single-wide seem like a mansion.
Her fate is already written. Girls of her caste/lineage are sold by their fathers into prostitution. She's seen it happen countless times, and her cousin who she very much cares about, is a prime example.
Then a miracle happens. Heera becomes entranced while watching girls living in a group home connected to the school she was expelled from, practicing Kung Fu. The grace, power, and artistry remind her of when she was younger and her uncles performed similarly. When tragedy strikes her family, she realizes she must act or lose what hope remains. She gathers her courage and approaches the woman who runs the shelter/school. Rini Di is no stranger to the threats Heera faces. In fact, she's rescued girls in similar straits many times. She offers her a spot at the school. Heera blossoms, but when her safety is compromised and she's nearly abducted, her life takes yet another turn. This involves intense focus on her Kung Fu lessons, gathering the courage to stand up to her father, making new friends, at least one far away, competing and winning, plus a rash and risky plan to save another friend.
This is an excellent portrayal of what girls not only in foreign countries, but here in America face. By the time you close the cover (making certain to read the author's notes), You feel like you were right beside Heera much of the way, and I challenge you not to look at the world in the same way from now on.… (mais)