Author Jennifer Clement tells a beautifully haunting story about friendship, family, and a life lived in fear of becoming a "Stolen Girl." Prayers for the Stolen follows the life of a young girl named Ladydi, who like all young girls on the mountain of Guerrero, Mexico, lives with an ear to the ground just listening for the sound of the SUV of the cartel coming to snatch her. She keeps her hair short, her teeth black and her skin dirty. This was common practice for little girls living in a time and place where drug Lords ruled. "When I was born, my Mother announced to her neighbors and people in the market that a boy had been born. Thank God a boy was born! she said. Yes, thank God and the Virgin Mary, everyone answered though no one was fooled. On our mountain only boys were born, and some of them turned into girls around the age of eleven. Then these boys had to turn into ugly girls who sometimes had ...