Amal loves going to school and wants to be a teacher one day. When her mother has her fifth daughter Amal has to stay home from school and help with the housework and the other children. One day in the market she has a run in with a powerful local man. To pay her family's debt she is sent to be a servant in his household. Luckily she ends up as a maid for his mother, but life away from home is not easy.

This is definitely a story about the plight of girls around the world. The afterword talks about Malala's struggles to bring education to girls in the Middle East. Amal has an education but it is ripped away from her by a feudal system that is difficult to overcome. She knows the importance of education and helps to teach those around her. I liked her quite strength as she comes to terms with her new living situation and realizes that it may not be temporary. This is a good story to show how everyday kids around the world live and what they have to do to survive.