Book Review: I Kick And I Fly by Ruchira Gupta

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the I KICK AND I FLY by Ruchira Gupta Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: I KICK AND I FLY

Author: Ruchira Gupta

Pub. Date: April 18, 2023

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 352

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/I-KICK-AND-I-FLY

“In I Kick and I Fly, Ruchira Gupta has given young readers an irresistible story, and also one that could save lives. This book is a gift.” — Gloria Steinem

A propulsive social justice adventure by renowned activist and award-winning documentarian Ruchira Gupta, I Kick and I Fly is an inspiring, hopeful story of triumph about a girl in Bihar, India, who escapes being sold into the sex trade when a local hostel owner helps her to understand the value of her body through kung fu.

On the outskirts of the Red Light District in Bihar, India, fourteen-year-old Heera is living on borrowed time until her father sells her into the sex trade to help feed their family and repay his loans. It is, as she’s been told, the fate of the women in her community to end up here. But watching her cousin, Mira Di, live this life day in and day out is hard enough. To live it feels like the worst fate imaginable. And after a run-in with a bully leads to her expulsion from school, it feels closer than ever.

But when a local hostel owner shows up at Heera’s home with the money to repay her family’s debt, Heera begins to learn that fate can change. Destiny can be disrupted. Heroics can be contagious.

It’s at the local hostel for at risk girls that Heera is given a transformative opportunity: learning kung fu with the other girls. Through the practice of martial arts, she starts to understand that her body isn’t a an object to be commodified and preyed upon, but a vessel through which she can protect herself and those around her. And when Heera discovers the whereabouts of her missing friend, Rosy, through a kung fu pen pal in the US, she makes the decision to embark on a daring rescue mission to New York in an attempt to save her.

A triumphant, shocking account inspired by Ruchira Gupta’s experience making the Emmy-award winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents, this is an unforgettable story of overcoming adversity by a life-long activist who has dedicated her life to creating a world where no child is bought or sold.

 

Why Should You Read This?

I Kick and I Fly is a gripping and inspiring story that sheds light on the dark and devastating issue of human trafficking, specifically the sex trade in India. Ruchira Gupta’s novel tells the story of Heera, a young girl from Bihar who is on the brink of being sold into the sex trade by her father to repay his debts. However, fate takes a turn when a local hostel owner pays off the debt and offers Heera an opportunity to learn kung fu along with other girls.

Through the practice of martial arts, Heera begins to see her body as a tool to protect herself and those around her, not as an object to be commodified and sold. When she learns of her friend Rosy’s location in the United States, she embarks on a risky mission to rescue her, all while battling the harsh realities of human trafficking and the obstacles that come with it.

Gupta’s writing is vivid and powerful, making the reader feel the intensity of the situation and the desperation that comes with being trapped in the sex trade.

Overall, I Kick and I Fly is a powerful and thought-provoking book that sheds light on an important social justice issue while also inspiring hope and resilience in the face of adversity. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight against human trafficking and for those who believe in the power of personal agency and self-determination.

 

About Ruchira Gupta:

Ruchira Gupta has pioneered laws, policies, protocols, conventions and Best Practice approaches in the Feminist Abolitionist struggle against sex-trafficking in the UN, globally and India. Her work will be archived at Stanford Library and will be open access for students across the world to study. Her journey began as a journalist, when she made the Emmy-winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents. With the help of the documentary, she testified to the US Senate for the passage of the first Trafficking Victim Protection Act and to the UN for the passage of the UN Protocol to End Trafficking in Persons. She founded the Indian anti-sex trafficking organization, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, that supports thousands of prostituted and at risk girls in India. You can learn more about her organization here: apneaap.org

She is a visiting professor at New York University, and Distinguished Scholar at University of California, Berkley. She is the editor of a feminist journal for SAGE, Antyajaa: Indian Journal of Women and Social Change and two anthologies- River of Flesh & Other Stories and The Essential Gloria Steinem Reader. She has been presented the French Légion honneur, an Emmy, and the Clinton Global Citizen, UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction award. She dreams of a world in which no human being is bought or sold.

Links- Instagram | All other social media- https://linktr.ee/ruchiraguptalinks

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of I KICK AND I FLY, US Only.

Ends May 6th, midnight EST.

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