PRAISE FOR I KICK AND I FLY
“In I KICK AND I FLY, Ruchira Gupta has given an irresistible story, and also one that could save
lives.” —Gloria Steinem
“I KICK AND I FLY is proof that if the heart is moved, so might be the positive activities for justice and freedom of the mind.”— Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
Having been to the brothels and red-light district I KICK AND I FLY, so searingly captures, I can testify that this book is essential reading for anyone interested how to empower girls to break free from intergenerational prostitution and sex trafficking. Ruchira Gupta is nothing less than a great hero, and in her book she has created one in Heera, as she seeks to defy the destiny of rape that poverty and men have assigned her.
—Ashley Judd
“A triumphant debut . . . The depth of the story’s details and its themes of bodily autonomy, community, and women’s empowerment reflect Gupta’s experience as the founder of Apne Aap, an NGO working to end sex trafficking.”
—Kirkus
“I KICK AND I FLY is a powerhouse of a debut. Ruchira Gupta has crafted a page-turner of a read, stepped in place and full of indelible characters, managing to be at once propulsive and enlightening, infuriating and inspiring. But maybe most important, Heera’s story is a beacon of hope to a generation of young people trying to transform an unjust world.” —Gayle Forman, NYT bestselling author of If I Stay and We Are Inevitable
Renowned activist and founder of the NGO Apne Aap, Ruchira Gupta has devoted her life to creating a world where no child is bought or sold. As a young journalist hiking through the hills of Nepal, Ruchira came across rows and rows of villages with missing girls who were being sold across the border into brothels in India. Moved to tell the world about this injustice, she created the Emmy award-winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents. Since then she has received numerous awards for her contributions to the establishment of the UN Trafficking Fund for Survivors and the passage of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act. She continues to fight for women’s safety through Apne Aap, which helps thousands of women and girls in India exit systems of prostitution each year.
Sex trafficking remains the third largest organized crime in the world, and the average age of a child trafficked into the commercial sex trade is between eleven and fourteen years old. With the aim of empowering a generation of young people to change this devastating statistic, Ruchira has written I KICK AND I FLY, her debut novel inspired by her firsthand experiences working with girls preyed upon by sex traffickers. A propulsive social justice adventure, I KICK AND I FLY follows the story of Heera, 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. Through Heera’s strength and resilience, I KICK AND I FLY reveals how the elements that play into sex-trafficking—like body shaming, bullying, and commodification–can be fought back.
I KICK AND I FLY is a story of courage despite great odds. It’s about the agency of women and the power they possess in their bones. It’s the story of a community that resolves to make change contagious and succeeds. A hopeful narrative about a dangerous topic, I KICK AND I FLY brings greater awareness to the global movement against sex-trafficking and reminds us that change is possible even in the darkest of circumstances.
ABOUT THE RUCHIRA:
Ruchira Gupta is a writer, feminist campaigner, professor at New York University and founder of the anti-sex-trafficking organization, Apne Aap Women Worldwide. She won the Clinton Global Citizen award in 2009, the Sera Bangali Award in 2012 and an Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism in 1996. She has helped more than twenty thousand girls and women in India exit prostitution systems. She has also edited As If Women Matter, an anthology of Gloria Steinem’s essays, and written manuals on human trafficking for the UN Office for Drugs and Crime. Ruchira divides her time between Delhi and New York. I Kick and I Fly is her debut novel.