Looking for an unforgettable collection of the best YA books about human trafficking? As an award-winning author and longtime blogger about issue-driven YA fiction, I’ve spent over a decade analyzing and recommending the most emotionally honest stories about difficult topics like human trafficking for the purposes of commercial exploitation.
This despicable practice happens all over the world, affects both men and women of broad age groups, and takes several forms: forced labor, sex, organ removal, or other forms of abuse. Reading books about this terrible topic can raise our awareness of this prevalent problem and help us be more alert for potential victims as we move through airports, stay in hotels, and shop in holiday crows. Seeing a young protagonist escape a terrible situation can even inspire us to activism and social justice.
You’ll find detailed reviews of many great novels in the roundup below. Discover your next great read for National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. I can guarantee some disturbing content here, but I promise that every novel here is worth the journey.
Property of Nobody by Khristina Chess
Themes in Human Trafficking
Debt bondage exploitation
What it’s about
An unaccompanied teen boy from Honduras flees murdering coyotes, only to become ensnared by human traffickers.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“No one is coming for you. No one is missing you. And no one will mourn you if you’re killed.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from Property of Nobody
Hands down, this is the best YA novel about human trafficking you’ll read this year!
In a genre where male voices are rare, young Teódulo stands out—a gripping, unforgettable protagonist trapped in the insidious web of debt bondage after the murder of his father. His descent is slow, suffocating, inevitable. I worried for him. I clung to every choice he made, knowing escape might never come.
This novel doesn’t just tell a story; it challenges readers to look at the dark underbelly of immigration, human trafficking, organized crime, and the vulnerable children who are swallowed by it.
It’s haunting. It’s brutal. It’s harrowing.
With its riveting storytelling and powerful themes, Property of Nobody has sparked conversations across book clubs and reader communities. This is more than fiction; it’s a window into the lives of children we’re too afraid to see.
If you’re searching for a YA books about human trafficking, Property of Nobody is an absolute must-read. I promise that this one will move you and stay with you long after the last page.
Freedom is not free.
Purge by Sofi Oksanen
Themes in Human Trafficking
Sexual exploitation, survival, & resilience
What it’s about
Set against the Soviet occupation of Estonia during WWII, a powerful and epic historical story about two women and how their lives are intertwined by human trafficking.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"The only thing left alive was the shame." ― Sofi Oksanen, quote from Purge
I picked up Purge to add to my list of YA books about human trafficking, but this novel is pure literature, a stunning international masterpiece that spans decades of history, generations of pain, and dark twisted family secrets.
Set in Estonia and bouncing between 1941 and 1992, two protagonists tell their tales in a long and dizzying narrative that weaves between present terror and past horror. These women are bound to each other in multiple ways. Their mutual distrust them unreliable narrators, so that only the reader really only has the full picture, and sometimes even that picture is murky.
As I think back on each of these women's experiences, I see so many parallels in what happened to each, even though the details are very different on the surface. For example, both are raped. Both are silenced. Both are shamed. One is betrayed. One is a betrayer.
This is the kind of epic novel that I can think about for a long time and even read again. I missed things and know that I would see even more in a second reading because the book is so sweeping and full of such meaningful symbolism and detail.
A true masterpiece. I loved it!
Trafficked by Kim Purcell
Themes in Human Trafficking
Debt bondage exploitation
What it’s about
A young girl from Moldova is tricked into coming to the U.S. for a job, only to find herself in debt bondage to terrible people who imprison her in their home.
Why I Love It - Book Review
Trafficked an absorbing YA novel about human trafficking that shows how an orphaned teenager easily becomes a victim of this terrible crime. Hannah was easily duped into leaving her home for the promise of a better life in the United States, a salary, and a chance to study English. Instead, she became a slave, forced into being an unpaid nanny and a maid, fighting off sexual advances of the husband of the house and his male associates, and being beaten and verbally abused by the wife. She is young, slow to realize her situation, and not great with English.
The plotting of Trafficked was thrilling. There were plenty of twists to keep me invested. For example, there is a backstory about how Hannah was "chosen" by this family that is revealed little by little.
I was rooting for Hannah to find a way out and take charge of her life. I worried about her because I knew the odds were not in her favor.
Human trafficking is a real, modern problem across the world, and you won’t want to miss Hannah’s heartbreaking and thought-provoking story. She begins the novel in a state of naïve innocence in her home country, and by the end, she has become mature and wise to the adult world. It’s a realistic and sad tragedy.
No Exit by Taylor Adams
Themes in Human Trafficking
Survival & resilience, child sexual exploitation
What it’s about
A college student trapped at an interstate exit during a storm makes a dangerous discovery in one of the other vehicles.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“The difference between a hero and a victim? Timing.” ― Taylor Adams, quote from No Exit
Holy cow! In this thriller, a college student pulls over at a rest stop during a blizzard, and while walking around the parking lot to locate cell phone coverage (unsuccessfully), she discovers a child locked in a dog crate in the back of a van. A live child. Someone inside the building is holding a child captive in a cage in that van.
The plot takes off from there. Hang on! Who is it? How can Darby rescue the child and herself? How can she ensure that the psychopath doesn’t kill her and the innocent travelers in a blood bath instead?
Darby is a smart, plucky heroine, and I was rooting for her on every page of this tense YA book about human trafficking and child abduction. I can’t wait to check out the movie that’s coming out about it!
Sold by Sue Barrow
Themes in Human Trafficking
Debt bondage exploitation
What it’s about
A girl's parents sell her to wealthy relatives in another country, where she is foced to clean and babysit their children.
Why I Love It - Book Review
I wanted to like this book. Sold is a YA book about human trafficking where the parents sell one of their children to a wealthy relative in the UK. Roza is forced to clean and babysit for this abusive family. The plotting is very similar to Trafficked, but its execution doesn’t meet the mark.
There are a lot of unrealistic aspects of the story, like the way Roza goes to the library and gets a job that her “jailers” don’t know about. She has too much freedom to make her captivity seem realistic. Her character is shallow and not well developed.
If you’re looking for YA books about human trafficking, read Trafficked instead.
Other YA Books about Human Trafficking
If you are looking other YA books about human trafficking, check out the Human Trafficking Books and Novels on Human Trafficking lists on Goodreads. You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads, which lists other reviews of YA contemporary books about tough topics for teens.
Author Bio
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of more than a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Her novel about eating disorders, Hollow Beauty, was named a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, dystopian, and adventure.
In a recent interview from her alma mater, she described how her experience in the creative writing program prepared her for success.
