Hidden Girl
by Shyima Hall
A real life memoir from Shyima Hall in her book Hidden Girl. Shyima grew up in Egypt into a very
impoverished, large family. Her sister
was ‘sold’ by her parents into slavery as a means to give sustenance to the
family. After she was caught stealing,
Shyima’s parents bring her to the home of her sister’s ‘masters’ and shockingly
is left to replace her sister. Shyima is
eight years old when this happens! The
family lives in Cairo and decides to relocate to the US in Irvine, California
in the early 2000s. She is forced to
work 17-hour days cleaning and doing chores to support the children of the rich
family. She lives in the basement and
has one meal a day. Her treatment by the
rich family is horrific, but, in 2002, customs agents come to take her from her
captor’s home based on a tip from a neighbor.
The remainder of the story is Shyima describing the difficulty of
finding a foster parent who will love her as she goes through many
families. She helps the case of the
government against her captors and eventually becomes a US citizen. She also shares the story of becoming a
mother herself. The issue of slavery &
human trafficking is real with over 17,000 cases a year in the US. Horrific that this happens. Important issue that needs to be shared. It is a book for young adult as illustrated
by the writing style.
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