Little Peach by Peggy Kern student book review by Isabella

Author (Last name first): Kern, Peggy
Title of the Book: Little Peach 
 Publisher: Balzer and Bray 
 Date of Publication: 2015 
 ISBN#: 978-0062266958 
 Price: $17.99
 Grade Level: YA 
 Number of pages: 208 
Rating: 5Q, 4P Highly Recommended

Little Peach takes a brutally honest approach to the realities of child trafficking and prostitution. Fourteen-year-old Michelle has never had an easy life, nevertheless, she could always count on her grandfather to keep the wolves away. However, when he dies and her jealous mother kicks her out of the house, Michelle has nowhere to go. With one last shred of hope, she tries to find an old classmate in New York, but soon realizes the futility of her endeavor.

She is alone, aimless, and afraid. Suddenly, a charming, nicely dressed man approaches her and welcomes her into his world. At first, Michelle naively believes that she has found her happily ever after. Yet, soon she discovers the truth that she is to be a child prostitute. Stuck in this impossible situation, Michelle will have to make choices that no child should have to make.

Little Peach is a difficult book to read. It is not an uplifting story, but rather one aimed to educate the reader about the way children wind up in prostitution. I found the writing to be very nuanced, as the style reflected Michelle’s maturity and mental state: as a young child her thoughts were simplistic, but when her environment forces her to grow up quickly, the reader can see this change evident in the style of writing.

One moment in this novel that struck me particularly was when the girls find a missing child poster and realize that no one is looking for them. I found this eye-opening because I had never thought about the children who are not on missing posters, but who simply disappear. Furthermore, I found it shocking how these girls had nowhere to go, when they were abandoned or abused by their families. They feared being put in a group home or foster family more than going to New York City by themselves, which can be seen as rather indicative of the poor state of child protective service in poorer regions.

Finally, I think that this novel’s lack of a happy ending was a good decision because it shows that in these situations there are never picture perfect movie endings. Nevertheless, it suggested that it is possible for some to escape the dark world of prostitution, but that they cannot do this alone and thus we as a society must work together to save these girls.

This novel would be a good choice for an upperclassman English class, government/politics, or cultural studies class. Please note that this novel has many mature themes (e.g. sex, rape, drugs, sexual/physical/emotional abuse, prostitution, and violence).

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