Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave Paperback – June 9, 2015

This but is thought provoking and at times hard to read. But we'll worth reading, just keep some tissues close by. It gives a lot of good information as well.I am so proud of you Shyima, you are an inspiration to me. I was sexually abused as a child by my dad, but the abuse you suffered is so far beyond comprehension I can't even tell you.The fact that you have made the choice to become a strong, happy, productive woman and mother is more than anyone could expect for you to do ,but I personally am so happy those are the choices you did make. Like you said, you could have turned inside yourself and lived the life of a victim, but you didn't and I am so, so proud do you for that decision.Also, thank you for writing this book.

This book was an eye opener for me. To read about the struggles Shyima encountered, her vulnerability, isolation and subsequent rescue from a first person perspective really made the reader understand her complex dilemma. I purchased this book as a tool for my patients to read so they can understand the challenges of not having a basic education and the ability to communicate and how you are helpless in life without those life skills. A few of my patients came back and informed me the book was life changing for them, and some of the kids felt like they were not alone in their educational challenges after reading how difficult it was for Shyima to catch up after being denied school attendance as a child. This book should be a must read on every Middle/ High school reading list. I was happy to see the frank assessments Shyima detailed about her life and not the "Hollywood" style recollections that other memoirs utilize. Shymia had a matter of fact style and did not blame any particular culture, religion or sect regarding her enslavement.

This is an interesting story of an Egyptian girl, Shyima, who was sold into slavery by her own parents! This is not uncommon for very poor large families.The family who owned her called her 'stupid girl' which stripped her of her identity. Finally they took her illegally to America and she continued to work as their slave. Eventually she became free, hardly realizing what that meant. Shyima became an American citizen and started a new free life, having to start her education late. She did a lot of work to speak out against slavery of this type. This is a good book, although not the best in writing style, but it gets the emotions and sad facts across. I have read a few books about domestic slaves and this one has a happier ending.

Shyima Hall wrote her autobiography, "Hidden Girl: A true story of a modern-day child slave" so that it is fast paced. While she goes into depth about her time as a slave and the next stages of her life, so much is happening that you as a reader become engrossed in the story. We are rooting for her the entire time as if we are right behind her hoping that the next stage in her life will be better than the last. As a reader, it is truly amazing as we get to watch her grow emotionally and academically to become a functional person in society after her years as a slave.While the vocabulary level isn't as high as most young adult books are, it was well written. She is telling her story as if she were simply talking to a friend. Which makes the book that much more compelling to read.Even though this book is intended for young adults, that is not the limit on who can read it. Anyone that wants to know about modern day slavery or wants to read something inspiring should definitely put this book on their list. It travels through her life through all her struggles and shows how she over comes being beaten (physically and verbally) and broken down on a daily basis by her captors.

It started to get really repetitive towards the ending of the story. I felt so bad about her upbringing though and the experience she endured. It's scary that things like this exsist in the world. I'm glad she was able to find her voice in all of this and bring to light the things that tend to happen in the world.

I remember reading about Shyima Hall in the news: a girl kept as a family slave, literally right under everyone’s nose. It’s one thing to hear about such things happening. It’s quite another to have it so close to home. (She was in Irvine in Orange County. I was living in Tustin, an adjacent city, during the time.) Some years later, when I heard about her memoir, Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave (Simon & Schuster, 2014), I was eager to have a chance to read her side of the story.The book begins with Shyima’s younger years in Egypt, her family plagued with financial difficulties. While the author doesn’t excuse her parents handing her over to work for another family, the book does show the reader why they probably felt they had no other choice. Kept as a slave, eight-year-old Shyima tolerated substandard living arrangements, received no education, and had no time for herself. It was work day and night. She kept track of time passed by the birthdays of her owners’ children.When her owners decided to move to the United States, they went to a lot of trouble to make sure Shyima joined them. Shyima’s life of slavery continued over here, until someone dropped an anonymous tip about the suspicious girl to the police. Now free, Shyima’s struggles didn’t end. She faced court trials, foster family drama, and the struggle of trying to find her place in a very different culture. But in the end, you can see that she’s happy and optimistic about life and eager to educate the American public about the modern-day slave trafficking problem.Hidden Girl is a great book, taking its reader through a whole range of emotions. Cowriter Lisa Wysocky did an excellent job keeping a very foreign and little girlish voice to the narrative. And it was encouraging for me to learn that the Orangewood Children’s Home (with which my old church had been involved) played a positive role in helping her. The book is good evidence that – even though there’s a lot of social and economic issues abroad – there are real problems here at home that need our attention too.

Gift. was appreciated, no complaints

Inspirational. Good end to a tough story. Gives us all hope for a better tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your story.

Excellent read

Love this book. I'm not a book person but I just couldn't put it down

Good book