Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on
a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple
pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having
her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh
Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's
stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job
as a maid in the