Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

My Ratings:
Vocabulary:  *****
Ingredients: *****
Satisfaction: *****
Lexile Level: 1200L
Genre:  Non-fiction, Research, based on personal experience
My Opinions: Initially when I received this book from my English teacher my freshman year, I expected this to be an extremely boring, purely stats-filled non fiction book. I mean...after reading Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide on the front cover, I expected it to be full of fluff and to retain a "go feminism" type of vibe throughout the entire book. However, I took the book from her hand simultaneously believing it to be a huge mistake and holding a forced smile - I couldn't deny an offer from my english teacher.

Of course, I was proven wrong because I just reread the book again. I opened the book and it was unlike any other non fiction book I had read. Sure it had its prelude of facts and stats regarding the realm of human trafficking. However, WuDunn and Kristof immediately dive into a series of chapters that are developed based on their own experience. For example, Kristof writes about his experience meeting several human trafficked girls in Asia and Africa. The couple than transitions into personal experiences where they meet families whose wives and daughters suffer from poor hospital conditions and poor medical supervision during child birth in places like Africa. Like this, the two authors go on and on discussing details from their trove of experience in various countries and meeting various women and girls of all ages. Everything they discuss is related to a main issue females face today.

Their accounts provided vivid details. Nothing was sugarcoated. Everything was raw, intense, and had a call for action. That is what I LOVED about this book. The authors were not simply just reporting the problem and waiting for another to write a book about how it could be solved. They take the initiative to complete the circle by providing various solutions for both the victims and the readers. They don't just stop with the facts. They take the next step by analyzing their collected information and providing detailed solutions.

These solutions went hand in hand with the project I was currently working on. I am the Director of our school's UNCHAINED Fashion Show. It is a local non profit that aims to abolish human trafficking. The show seeks to raise awareness and knowledge of the issue so that community members feel empowered to take a stand against traffickers. Suddenly, the reason why my teacher had handed me the book that day became clear.

I am an abolitionist. She was a fellow abolitionist seeking to fuel my mission.

For example, I was truly able to connect with the message in the first ten chapters. These chapters honed in on the physical, mental, and social strain created for girls and women in human trafficking. Instead of just pouring out their personal accounts, the authors dug deeper to make connections between the victims' experiences and physiological and psychological impairments. Towards the end, Kristof and WuDunn provided examples of ways the reader could prevent human trafficking - one being to simply "raise awareness and knowledge for it". Once I read this, my work with UNCHAINED in hosting their fashion show to prevent human trafficking year after year felt validated. I felt complete knowing that this show will definitely impact many lives. 

10/10 Recommend :) Perhaps this is a sign I should start exploring more non fiction options.