She thought she was heading toward a better life. She didn’t know she was being sold.

Fifteen-year-old Lena dreams of escaping her crumbling village and her family’s poverty. When a woman offers her a job in the city—good pay, a safe place, a fresh start—she says yes. But within hours, the truth unravels. Lena isn’t being hired.

She’s been traded.

Thrust into a hidden network of traffickers and captors, Lena’s life is shattered. Her days become a cycle of fear, coercion, and silence. But deep inside, she refuses to disappear. With the help of another captive and a stranger willing to risk everything, Lena begins plotting her escape—and reclaiming her voice.

Based on real-life trafficking cases and survivor testimonies, Traded is a gripping novel of exploitation, survival, and the power of a girl who refuses to be forgotten.

⚠️ For readers of Sold by Patricia McCormick and Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd, this story shines a necessary light on one of the darkest crimes in our world.