I Kick and I Fly
It’s my turn 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
“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.
Review for I Kick and I Fly
The author has shared a mind blowing account of life outside of our own. Your heart will bleed for the main character who is hungry, afraid, full of anxiety, and insecurity. You will cheer as she overcomes the challenges and exploitation of her culture. Prostitution and human trafficking have no place in a modern day society. Heera finds a love for martial arts and not only survives, but thrives. An amazing read.
About the Author
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. Ruchira 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.
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Giveaway for I Kick and I Fly
1 winner will receive a finished copy of I KICK AND I FLY, US Only.
Ends May 6th, midnight EST.
Good luck to you – be sure to enter the giveaway!
I Kick and I Fly Tour Schedule
| 4/23/2023 | More Books Please blog |
| 4/24/2023 | @enjoyingbooksagain |
| 4/25/2023 | A Blue Box Full of Books |
| 4/26/2023 | Breysreviews |
| 4/27/2023 | OneMoreExclamation |
| 4/28/2023 | @froggyreadteach |
| 4/29/2023 | Two Points of Interest |
| 4/30/2023 | Books with Brandie Shanae |
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