You will make us proud, Ama says, as the first member of our family to leave this mountain.
-- Ama (Section 1, City Rules paragraph 8)

Importance: Here, Lakshmi’s mother explains that Lakshmi will be the first member of the family to leave their mountain village. It also belies the fact that Ama is just as much in the dark about what is happening as Lakshmi –that her stepfather has sold her into sexual slavery.

I awoke today – before even the hen had begun to stir – aware of a change in myself.
-- Lakshmi (Section 1, First Blood paragraph 1)

Importance: At 13, Lakshmi has her first period. She is now considered a woman, and will eventually be set up in an arranged marriage. But Lakshmi’s entrance into womanhood is noted by her stepfather for a different reason that aging or marriage, for he plans to sell her into sexual slavery.

This has always been our fate,” she says. “Simply to endure,” she says, “is to triumph...
-- Ama (Section 1, Everything I Need to Know paragraph 11)