A beautiful and powerful story.

This is a fictionalized story of a real hero, Iqbal Masih, a young boy who escaped the carpet factory in Pakistan that he was enslaved in. He joined the Labor Liberation Front and helped free hundreds of children from bonded labor. He was recognized globally when he received the Reebok Human Rights Award in Boston in 1994. This story was a beautiful telling of who Iqbal must have been: a brave, selfless boy who never lost hope despite his circumstance. He then used his newfound freedom to free others and then told the world about what was happening to children. It is a quick read and is definitely worth the few hours (or less) you dedicate to it. I sobbed through the end, which I was aware was coming, from knowing of Iqbal before reading the book. However, the way the author addresses it in the story is beautiful. Well done. More people should know his name.

This was a book that I had my students read for a lesson on child labor/ slavery. It was hard to get them into it because it started off slow, but then it picked up. They really enjoyed this story of a little revolutionary whose life was ended early. Iqbal was sold into child labor and was making carpets but he had a heart of gold. He knew what he and others were enduring was wrong. He was continuously tortured for his beliefs. He stood strong and ran away and then helped those in the same factory he was working in escape the brutality. He then made it a mission of his to free many other children who were also enslaved. At the tender age of 13 he was murdered by those who didn't believe in what he was doing.

This story was hard and very informative, my students enjoyed it. I am glad to have read it with them.

This book was AMAZING. I was assigned to read it for my Humanities class, even though it has nothing to do with our unit, and I LOVED it. It's about this girl named Fatima who was a slave for an awful man. When Iqbal was sold to the man everything changed. He helped save them!
But I warn you: the ending is extremely sad. Iqbal is shot and dies. It's based off a true story about a boy named Iqbal Masih. I love this book even though it's not my usual genre.

Después de tener esta novela por mucho tiempo en mis estanterías, pues la compre en una Feria del Libro sin saber muy bien de que iba y totalmente ignorante de todo lo que había detrás. Recuerdo que hace unos meses vi una publicación que hablaba sobre Iqbal Masih y fue la primera vez que escuche algo sobre aquel chico, luego días después recordé que tenia un libro que ponía el mismo nombre y me pregunte si estaría relacionado y sí, si lo estaba.

Esta novela es bastante sencilla de leer, la prosa no es nada complicada o al menos la edición que leí no lo fue, pues sé que no fue escrita originalmente en español. El autor a mi entender hizo un gran trabajo pues nos contó una gran historia en menos de 200 páginas, la construcción de sus personajes fue bastante admirable, pero de las cosas que más me atraparon fueron las palabras de bienvenida y despedida del autor, pues él no recuerda todas esas cosas que pasan silentes a nuestro alrededor, que aunque empatizamos en momentos determinados y lloramos o nos afligimos, lamentablemente con el tiempo vamos olvidando, pues una tragedia sigue a otra, una y otra vez en un siclo sin fin.

Francesco D´Adamo le dio voz y vida a una historia que tal vez muchos ya han olvidado, sobre un jovencito valiente que no le basto con obtener su propia libertad, sino que lucho para que, otros que eran oprimidos como él lo fue, también pudieran obtenerla. Esta historia me hizo consciente de que debemos poner en perspectivas nuestras vidas, en contrastes con las de otros que viven en condiciones lamentables, y que debemos apoyar esas luchas que son a favor de los oprimidos, de aquellos que no tienen voz y que están sufriendo por culpa de un opresor corrupto y desalmado justo en estos momentos.

¡Gracias a Dios por personas como Iqbal! Personas como él nos devuelven la fe en la humanidad y nos dan fuerza para levantarnos y ser también nosotros esperanza para alguien más.

Read this with my 6th grade English students and they loved it. Wonderful way to introduce students to the ideas of child labor. Wonderful and quick read.

It was strange having such an untold and unfamiliar story told from someone else's perspective. I would have preferred to hear the story from Iqbal's perspective and know what he was thinking, not someone on the sidelines.

Inspiring. Good for young people- my 11 year old is reading not at school and suggested it.

This is a great young adult novel about the life of Iqbal Mashif and his fight to free the child bonded labourers of Pakistan.