It isn’t often that I read a book in one day but, in the case of Ring Around Rosie by Emily Pattullo, this is what I did, all 299 pages!

Ring Around Rosie deals with the issue of child trafficking and is aimed at the young adult market, however Pattullo’s novel can be read by all ages (12-13 upwards). Rosie, a rebellious 14-year-old leaves London with her parents and brother Ted to escape the temptations of the capital. Following a group of men she finds they are engaged in criminal activity but before Rosie can slip away she is captured and finds herself on the way to London in a truck full of children.

Rosie is drawn into a world of child prostitution, one in which “respectable” men pay for sex with trafficked children in their homes or in exclusive member’s only clubs. Pattullo deals sensitively with rape. The reader is aware that abuse of children is taking place, however the writing isn’t graphic, many abuse scenes being hinted at (not described in graphic detail) which makes the book suitable for the young adult market.

Pattullo shows how victims can become dependent on their captors and even bond with them in a perverse manner.

Rosie’s brother Ted is distraught at the plight of his sister and goes to London to rescue her. Will he succeed before Rosie is lost to him and their parents forever? The ending is not what the reader is expecting.

Ring Around Rosie can be purchased as a Kindle download for £1.99 at Amazon, http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009T5W4TC/ref=pe_364691_36330161_M1T1DP