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Daughter of Cambodia #2
Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind
After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung became the "lucky child," the sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her one surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. In this poignant and elegiac memoir, Loung recalls her assimilation into an unfamiliar new culture while struggling to overcome dogged memories of violence and the deep scars of war. In alternating chapters, she gives voice to Chou, the beloved older sister whose life in war-torn Cambodia so easily could have been hers. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of war as well as in times of peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the salvaging strength of family bonds.
268 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2005
200 people are currently reading
4369 people want to read
About the author
Loung Ung
5 books454 followersLoung Ung is a Cambodian-American human-rights activist, lecturer and national spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World from 1997 to 2003. She has served in the same capacity for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which is affiliated with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.
Born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Ung was the sixth of seven children and the third of four girls to Seng Im Ung and Ay Choung Ung. At the age of 10, she escaped from Cambodia as a survivor of what became known as "the Killing Fields" during the reign of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. After being resettled as a refugee to United States, she eventually wrote two books which related to her life experiences from 1975 through 2003.
Born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Ung was the sixth of seven children and the third of four girls to Seng Im Ung and Ay Choung Ung. At the age of 10, she escaped from Cambodia as a survivor of what became known as "the Killing Fields" during the reign of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. After being resettled as a refugee to United States, she eventually wrote two books which related to her life experiences from 1975 through 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews
November 30, 2022
Loung Ung is the author of First They Killed My Father which described her family's horrific experience once the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia. First They Killed My Father is an incredible memoir that highlights the daily evil scenarios that resulted in the deaths of over two million Cambodians.
Twice I have attempted to read Lucky Child which describes Loung's experience immigrating from Cambodia to America with her older brother. She tearfully leaves several siblings behind in Cambodia, including her sister, Chou. Lucky Child follows the lives of Loung and Chou as they come of age in two very different countries.
Nineteen years later, the siblings are reunited.
I think the journey of Loung and Chou is an interesting contrast on how their lives progress.
For me, the pace is a little too slow; that's why I gave it three stars.
Twice I have attempted to read Lucky Child which describes Loung's experience immigrating from Cambodia to America with her older brother. She tearfully leaves several siblings behind in Cambodia, including her sister, Chou. Lucky Child follows the lives of Loung and Chou as they come of age in two very different countries.
Nineteen years later, the siblings are reunited.
I think the journey of Loung and Chou is an interesting contrast on how their lives progress.
For me, the pace is a little too slow; that's why I gave it three stars.
June 16, 2018
Nata nel 1970 da una famiglia Cino-Cambogiana di Phnom Pen, Loung Ung vive la separazione dai suoi cari a seguito dell’Angkar, ossia il feroce governo dei Khmer Rossi.
” Tra il 1975 e il 1979, i Khmer Rossi hanno sistematicamente massacrato due milioni di cambogiani, quasi un quarto della popolazione dell’intero paese. Un eccidio perpetrato ricorrendo a mezzi quali le esecuzioni sommarie, il lavoro forzato e un razionamento del cibo tale da causare la morte per fame. Tra le vittime dei Khmer Rossi devono essere annoverati i miei genitori, due sorelle e molti dei miei parenti.”
Loung Ung racconta di come la sua vita, ad un certo punto, si sia totalmente separata dall’unica sorella rimastale: Chou.
Loung, difatti, insieme al fratello Meng ed alla cognata scapperà prima in Thailandia per poi raggiungere il Vermont negli Stati Uniti.
Una storia che in modo parallelo racconta di incubi.
Da un lato, quelli concreti di Chou perché, nonostante la presenza vietnamita a difendere la popolazione cambogiana, i Khmer Rossi sono ancora presenti nelle campagne dove è andata ad abitare il resto della famiglia Ung.
Loung, invece, si trova catapulta in questa nuova realtà di benessere dove il terrore rimane schiacciato dentro mentre si alimenta la quotidiana speranza di farlo sparire del tutto concentrando tutte le nuove preoccupazioni alla formazione di un nuovo sé.
Una lettura importante come sempre lo è tutto ciò che contribuisce a tener viva, in un qualche modo, la coscienza anche se – giustamente- Ung bacchetta la solidarietà ipocrita che si risolve in esibizioni di affetto ma che non hanno seguito in aiuti concreti.
Passeranno quindici anni prima che le due sorelle possano riabbracciarsi e questa è la loro storia.
Ung è un pelino troppo filo sognoamericano ?
Ma è comprensibile.
D’altra parte come si fa a sputare nel piatto in cui mangi e a mordere la mano che ti ha tirato fuori dal pantano?
” Scelgo un nastro rosso e lo liscio passandolo delicatamente tra pollice e indice. Mentre il tessuto setoso mi scivola tra le dita, la mia mente torna alla Cambogia, dove per quattro lunghi anni abbiamo vissuto senza colori, indossando esclusivamente le camicie e i pantaloni neri imposti dai Khmer Rossi. I miliziani di Pol Pot sostenevano infatti che indossare abiti colorati discrimina le persone e alimenta disprezzo e sfiducia tra i cittadini. Inoltre erano dell’opinione che i bambini, che desideravano indossare una camicia rossa, una gonna rosa o pantaloni blu, fossero soltanto vanitosi, il che rendeva indispensabile “guarirli” della loro vanità... con le botte, naturalmente! Mi chiedo che cosa direbbero i soldati se vedessero la mia ciotola piena di nastri colorati. In ogni caso, spero che le loro parole, qualunque possano essere, escano da labbra morte e da carne decomposta. Metto un nastro rosso tra i capelli e penso che è proprio bello vivere in America.”
” Tra il 1975 e il 1979, i Khmer Rossi hanno sistematicamente massacrato due milioni di cambogiani, quasi un quarto della popolazione dell’intero paese. Un eccidio perpetrato ricorrendo a mezzi quali le esecuzioni sommarie, il lavoro forzato e un razionamento del cibo tale da causare la morte per fame. Tra le vittime dei Khmer Rossi devono essere annoverati i miei genitori, due sorelle e molti dei miei parenti.”
Loung Ung racconta di come la sua vita, ad un certo punto, si sia totalmente separata dall’unica sorella rimastale: Chou.
Loung, difatti, insieme al fratello Meng ed alla cognata scapperà prima in Thailandia per poi raggiungere il Vermont negli Stati Uniti.
Una storia che in modo parallelo racconta di incubi.
Da un lato, quelli concreti di Chou perché, nonostante la presenza vietnamita a difendere la popolazione cambogiana, i Khmer Rossi sono ancora presenti nelle campagne dove è andata ad abitare il resto della famiglia Ung.
Loung, invece, si trova catapulta in questa nuova realtà di benessere dove il terrore rimane schiacciato dentro mentre si alimenta la quotidiana speranza di farlo sparire del tutto concentrando tutte le nuove preoccupazioni alla formazione di un nuovo sé.
Una lettura importante come sempre lo è tutto ciò che contribuisce a tener viva, in un qualche modo, la coscienza anche se – giustamente- Ung bacchetta la solidarietà ipocrita che si risolve in esibizioni di affetto ma che non hanno seguito in aiuti concreti.
Passeranno quindici anni prima che le due sorelle possano riabbracciarsi e questa è la loro storia.
Ung è un pelino troppo filo sognoamericano ?
Ma è comprensibile.
D’altra parte come si fa a sputare nel piatto in cui mangi e a mordere la mano che ti ha tirato fuori dal pantano?
” Scelgo un nastro rosso e lo liscio passandolo delicatamente tra pollice e indice. Mentre il tessuto setoso mi scivola tra le dita, la mia mente torna alla Cambogia, dove per quattro lunghi anni abbiamo vissuto senza colori, indossando esclusivamente le camicie e i pantaloni neri imposti dai Khmer Rossi. I miliziani di Pol Pot sostenevano infatti che indossare abiti colorati discrimina le persone e alimenta disprezzo e sfiducia tra i cittadini. Inoltre erano dell’opinione che i bambini, che desideravano indossare una camicia rossa, una gonna rosa o pantaloni blu, fossero soltanto vanitosi, il che rendeva indispensabile “guarirli” della loro vanità... con le botte, naturalmente! Mi chiedo che cosa direbbero i soldati se vedessero la mia ciotola piena di nastri colorati. In ogni caso, spero che le loro parole, qualunque possano essere, escano da labbra morte e da carne decomposta. Metto un nastro rosso tra i capelli e penso che è proprio bello vivere in America.”
May 18, 2012
I recommend EVERYONE to read this book. Before you do, read "First They Killed My Father". This is a sequel to it.
The author is a survivor of the genocide that occurred in Cambodia. The reality of what happened there and the effects it had on individual lives and the country is unimaginable. What happened to the millions that died, and the millions more that lived, should be something we are all aware of.
Loung shares her story openly and sometimes brutally. What the Cambodians experienced is gut wrenching. Being a mother, parts are very hard to read and sad, imagining what her parents went through, watching their children starve, put into slave labor, and beaten.
"Lucky Child" picks up where the first book leaves off.
The author is a survivor of the genocide that occurred in Cambodia. The reality of what happened there and the effects it had on individual lives and the country is unimaginable. What happened to the millions that died, and the millions more that lived, should be something we are all aware of.
Loung shares her story openly and sometimes brutally. What the Cambodians experienced is gut wrenching. Being a mother, parts are very hard to read and sad, imagining what her parents went through, watching their children starve, put into slave labor, and beaten.
"Lucky Child" picks up where the first book leaves off.
January 9, 2018
This is the follow up to the book 'First they killed my father' and while the story is quite different it is no less compelling. It concurrently follows the journey of Loung as she leaves Cambodia and starts a new life growing up in the US, and her sister Chou as she is forced to grow up quickly in Cambodia.
It is a fascinating look at the problems facing refugees who move to a country where they have a language and cultural barrier. Loung sums this up well when she says her Cambodian friends thought she was funny but she doesn't know how to be funny in English. It also raises points about PTSD in children.
I felt really awful for her sister who just wanted to get an education but was forced to be an adult at such a young age. It was really nice to see what becomes of her and the rest of the family though.
It is a fascinating look at the problems facing refugees who move to a country where they have a language and cultural barrier. Loung sums this up well when she says her Cambodian friends thought she was funny but she doesn't know how to be funny in English. It also raises points about PTSD in children.
I felt really awful for her sister who just wanted to get an education but was forced to be an adult at such a young age. It was really nice to see what becomes of her and the rest of the family though.
February 11, 2017
This book is based on a real story.
After the Khmer Rouge regime ended in Cambodia, Loung, her brother and sister in law escaped to Thailand and then to US. They left behind their family, hoping they would be able to help them from abroad.
The book tells the story of their reunion from two points of view: Loung's and her sister Chou, who was left behind. What impressed me the most was how hard if was for Loung to let of of the ghost of the past and embrace her new life. She needed a really long time to think of Cambodia as her home and not a place of suffering and death.
After the Khmer Rouge regime ended in Cambodia, Loung, her brother and sister in law escaped to Thailand and then to US. They left behind their family, hoping they would be able to help them from abroad.
The book tells the story of their reunion from two points of view: Loung's and her sister Chou, who was left behind. What impressed me the most was how hard if was for Loung to let of of the ghost of the past and embrace her new life. She needed a really long time to think of Cambodia as her home and not a place of suffering and death.
June 13, 2024
Though not quite as excellent as the first book, it's still an enjoyable read.
June 3, 2019
Loung Ung’s story is so eye-opening and astounding. The trials her family overcame are monumental! There was some foul language, but I would still recommend it as a great autobiography!
May 22, 2014
Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind by Loung Ung is the second continuation book to First They Killed My Father. It is a memoir novel about Loung’s life after she immigrated to Vermont from Cambodia. Since she had left most of her family back in Cambodia because of money reasons, she comes back to rescue and see Chou, her sister. The Ung family goes through many hardships after they move to the United States since it’s a new world to them. Throughout the story there are two perspectives of these two sisters, Loung and Chou, in the conditions in which they live in, and how they react to it, with the horrible past which they both took part because of the Khmer Rouge.
There are many things which I enjoy about this book. One of the perks from this book being a non-fiction memoir, for me, was that I could get a feeling and connection of someone’s else’s life which was full of struggles and triumphs. I really enjoyed this book because there were so many moments in the story which were very heart touching and very suspenseful. For example, I really liked how Loung included the dreams that she had about her family. Most of them were very sad and emotional, because of the loss of her family but some were happy also. Furthermore, I also liked how the story switched over perspectives to Chou, Loung’s sister, they had to leave behind in Cambodia. I liked this because it compared and contrasted the lives between the two sisters living in two different worlds, and how they react to it completely differently. For example, what Loung might not want to eat, Chou would love to receive any kind of food that she could get. But with this book comes some dislikes. There aren’t many, but the main one is that there would be some parts in the story which would be dragged on a little and would be kind of boring to read, because the lack of action throughout the story. Plus, since it was a memoir, I wish I could connect to Loung throughout the story, but I couldn’t since we lived so very completely different lives.
Despite the lack of action, but very interesting plot structure, and point of views, I would definitely recommend this book to many of my friends that enjoys reading. The suspense, and struggles between the two sisters kept me turning the page to find more about the lives between them both. The love they have for each other is very real. It is a very interesting book, and I would love to read the third book in the series. I hope I win in it in the lottery just like how I won this one. This book was meant for me to read! Thank you Literature II Honors teacher!
There are many things which I enjoy about this book. One of the perks from this book being a non-fiction memoir, for me, was that I could get a feeling and connection of someone’s else’s life which was full of struggles and triumphs. I really enjoyed this book because there were so many moments in the story which were very heart touching and very suspenseful. For example, I really liked how Loung included the dreams that she had about her family. Most of them were very sad and emotional, because of the loss of her family but some were happy also. Furthermore, I also liked how the story switched over perspectives to Chou, Loung’s sister, they had to leave behind in Cambodia. I liked this because it compared and contrasted the lives between the two sisters living in two different worlds, and how they react to it completely differently. For example, what Loung might not want to eat, Chou would love to receive any kind of food that she could get. But with this book comes some dislikes. There aren’t many, but the main one is that there would be some parts in the story which would be dragged on a little and would be kind of boring to read, because the lack of action throughout the story. Plus, since it was a memoir, I wish I could connect to Loung throughout the story, but I couldn’t since we lived so very completely different lives.
Despite the lack of action, but very interesting plot structure, and point of views, I would definitely recommend this book to many of my friends that enjoys reading. The suspense, and struggles between the two sisters kept me turning the page to find more about the lives between them both. The love they have for each other is very real. It is a very interesting book, and I would love to read the third book in the series. I hope I win in it in the lottery just like how I won this one. This book was meant for me to read! Thank you Literature II Honors teacher!
February 10, 2017
Finished last night.
It was weird really that the whole book you get to meet the Loung who has moved to America and who is suffering from what happened to her inside but never shows how hunted she is by what happened in the war to others. So you'd think it is a build up to how she manages to heal, how she did it? But no all of a sudden we jump from that scared Loung to a woman who is at peace with her past and meets her family.
Now I do know why it is not revealed because that is for her third book. Yes I get that but why the big hole in the book and the story? Why not have left the meeting of family and so in book 3.
To be honest this book could have been so much shorter. Girl who has suffered in war comes to live in America. In every chapter girl suffers from ghosts of her past but nobody knows.Then big gap girl is woman now takes plane to finally meet family. Woman happy. end.
It was weird really that the whole book you get to meet the Loung who has moved to America and who is suffering from what happened to her inside but never shows how hunted she is by what happened in the war to others. So you'd think it is a build up to how she manages to heal, how she did it? But no all of a sudden we jump from that scared Loung to a woman who is at peace with her past and meets her family.
Now I do know why it is not revealed because that is for her third book. Yes I get that but why the big hole in the book and the story? Why not have left the meeting of family and so in book 3.
To be honest this book could have been so much shorter. Girl who has suffered in war comes to live in America. In every chapter girl suffers from ghosts of her past but nobody knows.Then big gap girl is woman now takes plane to finally meet family. Woman happy. end.
January 21, 2011
Sequel to "First they Killed my Father", the tale of the Cambodian genocide of its intellectuals at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. This book picks up where the other left off - Loung Ong escaped to America with her brother and his wife after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and this tells the story of her trying to find her place in a new country while also dealing with all the trauma from her suffering in Cambodia. It also tells the story of her sister, who stayed behind in Cambodia, because they didn't have enough money to send everyone to the US. Also an excellent book, and certainly made me feel damn lucky myself for not having to deal with anything like this while growing up.
September 18, 2018
I visited Cambodia for two weeks in March/April 2018 and it captured my heart even though I knew very little about it before hand (I was there to visit my daughter who was finishing an internship there).
I read this 2nd book in the trilogy by Ms. Ung under the (now framed) print of two dancing apsaras I purchased outside one of the many temples I wandered around at Angkor Wat. I feel as if Ms. Ung and her sister are these two goddesses that are still dancing despite the atrocities visited upon them and their families during the genocide they survived.
I read this 2nd book in the trilogy by Ms. Ung under the (now framed) print of two dancing apsaras I purchased outside one of the many temples I wandered around at Angkor Wat. I feel as if Ms. Ung and her sister are these two goddesses that are still dancing despite the atrocities visited upon them and their families during the genocide they survived.
August 3, 2024
This book was filled with so much emotion and I laughed and cried throughout. It was so nice experiencing America through the eyes of Loung as a young girl, however there are constant reminders of her struggle to cope with the loss of her family. The chapters alternated between her and her sister Chou, who was still battling through struggles within Cambodia including Khmer Rouge attacks, emphasised the stark differences between their two lives.
April 3, 2023
oh my gosh I literally love this story
first they killed my father is still my favorite but ahh Loung Ung, ily 🤟
it’s just so intriguing with beautiful writing that hooks you 😭😭
there’s one other book I think that I can read so yayy
literally, go read her books rn
and even more urgently if you like nonfiction stuff and wars kinda
first they killed my father is still my favorite but ahh Loung Ung, ily 🤟
it’s just so intriguing with beautiful writing that hooks you 😭😭
there’s one other book I think that I can read so yayy
literally, go read her books rn
and even more urgently if you like nonfiction stuff and wars kinda
June 11, 2021
Just as good as the predecessor and written so readers can learn the journey of both sisters living in different worlds and how they continued to survive a life forced onto them by a brutal regime.
September 14, 2025
Any book that makes me pour tears in the last chapter is worth five stars to me, and this book fit that bill to a tee. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the war in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge opened a limited slots for one family to emigrate to Vermont. The quota only allows room for three: an older brother, his wife, and one sister. The rest of the family had to separate. Because of the war, not only travel, but the most-basic communication between the family is impossible for years. That's hard on any family built around closeness and a strong communal ethic.
This story bounces back and forth, one chapter to the next, between points of view of the American sister and the Cambodian sister. Their lives evolve in parallel, each with their own struggles, each with their own pains. The author Loung Ung establishes a purposeful life through education in America, but had to suffer by being different from everyone else in her school. She eventually receives higher education at a Catholic college thanks to a full scholarship and becomes an advocate for those suffering hardships.
Her sister and their Cambodian family also have a story of their own. After years of struggle, they use their brother's American money to establish a profitable business to establish meaningful lives after the war dies down. Of course, they all bear the costs of indiscriminate human destruction through the loss of their mother and father. This book does not hide any of the real costs faced.
Refugees will continue to be a tremendous global problem in coming decades. This book highlights the hardships and pains that journey bears in graphic, moving, and persuasive ways. Those who want to educate themselves about newer situations our world faces should read Ung's story. It was so moving that it was even read on Cambodian radio with a warm reception. Refugees aren't seeking a free ride, just a life where they have a stable home. Ung's narrative demonstrates the perseverance it takes to become one and the inner strength refugees can inspire us all with. A masterful, emotional, all-too-human story!
This story bounces back and forth, one chapter to the next, between points of view of the American sister and the Cambodian sister. Their lives evolve in parallel, each with their own struggles, each with their own pains. The author Loung Ung establishes a purposeful life through education in America, but had to suffer by being different from everyone else in her school. She eventually receives higher education at a Catholic college thanks to a full scholarship and becomes an advocate for those suffering hardships.
Her sister and their Cambodian family also have a story of their own. After years of struggle, they use their brother's American money to establish a profitable business to establish meaningful lives after the war dies down. Of course, they all bear the costs of indiscriminate human destruction through the loss of their mother and father. This book does not hide any of the real costs faced.
Refugees will continue to be a tremendous global problem in coming decades. This book highlights the hardships and pains that journey bears in graphic, moving, and persuasive ways. Those who want to educate themselves about newer situations our world faces should read Ung's story. It was so moving that it was even read on Cambodian radio with a warm reception. Refugees aren't seeking a free ride, just a life where they have a stable home. Ung's narrative demonstrates the perseverance it takes to become one and the inner strength refugees can inspire us all with. A masterful, emotional, all-too-human story!
February 9, 2023
A memoir with a very peculiar form: every other chapter, they include a first-person narration of the writer who moves the United States and her sister's - and other family members' - life in Cambodia as the country deals with the Khmer Rouge, Vietnamese invasion, UNTAC, and a family reunion.
Following the murder of their parents, the eldest brother of a crowded family has to make a tough decision and take one of his siblings, as he moves to the US with his wife. The story is multilayered and touches upon so many different issues: refugee life in the United States, trauma of living - and leaving - a country that is ruled by a genocidial dictator, survival, separation, fitting in, and so much more. The reading is smooth although parts of the book are beautifully written and I could personally relate to several parts of the story.
Following the murder of their parents, the eldest brother of a crowded family has to make a tough decision and take one of his siblings, as he moves to the US with his wife. The story is multilayered and touches upon so many different issues: refugee life in the United States, trauma of living - and leaving - a country that is ruled by a genocidial dictator, survival, separation, fitting in, and so much more. The reading is smooth although parts of the book are beautifully written and I could personally relate to several parts of the story.
January 28, 2018
Eye-opening memoir about one sister recovering from the Khmer Rouge as a refugee in American and another sister recovering in Cambodia.
August 9, 2025
Loung has done it again! This book is captivating and everyone needs to read it. I especially love the way she illustrated the difference between her life in the US and her sister's in Cambodia and how the trauma of war never leaves you.
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January 20, 2026Laat zien hoe verschillend het leven van twee zussen wordt na het einde van de Khmer Rouge, wanneer de één naar Amerika vlucht en de ander in Cambodja blijft.
July 7, 2020
Utterly compelling, this account follows the original book, 'First They Killed My Father'.
Loung Ung has my heartfelt admiration, as does her entire family in Cambodia and the USA.
Loung Ung has my heartfelt admiration, as does her entire family in Cambodia and the USA.
January 15, 2025
hard read but illuminating
May 3, 2019
Loved this book! Loved it more than First They Killed My Father! Thanks, Cat!
October 11, 2024
I had read three books about children during the Khmer Rouge regime but I also wanted to read something about life right after the regime ended. What happened to the survivors, how was life rebuilt from zero? I end up choosing another memoir by Luong (First they killed my father) ‒ in Lucky Child: a Daughter of Cambodia she reunites with the sister left behind. The book is a parallel story about her and her sister’s life after 1980. It is a story of two completely different lives and alternates between the two sisters telling their story. While Luong’s story of her new life in the U.S. is undoubtedly interesting, I find her sister Chou’s story more compelling. Chou is the sister who was left behind, the sister who did not have the same opportunities, the sister who never complains and is grateful for what she has. She is the sister who lives through poverty and Khmer Rouge raids, who experienced an arranged marriage and was separated from her siblings. Hers is the story that shines through in this book, conveying what it was like to be left behind and stay in Cambodia after some of her siblings left.
I read this book as part of our project Virtual Nomad that explores and celebrates food, writing, cinema and music from different countries. www.myvirtualnomad.com
I read this book as part of our project Virtual Nomad that explores and celebrates food, writing, cinema and music from different countries. www.myvirtualnomad.com
June 3, 2024
A heartbreaking but beautiful story. I loved the themes surrounding family. Would really give this a 4.5!
February 26, 2017
Ung manage to surprise me once again with her thoughtful, incredible, and inspiring memoir.
With the book "Lucky Child," as the sequel to "First They Killed My Father." Ung, as a child was forced to live under the harsh rule of the Khmer Rouge Regime. Loosing her oldest sister, father, mother, and younger sister she was left with three brothers and one sister. With the amount of gold they owned, Meng(her oldest brother), his wife Eang, and Ung were the only ones to leave to the United States. Now the journey begins between two sisters which are half way around the world from each-other, and no way to communicate in a daily bases. These sister's will have to grow up without each-other and focus on the task ahead. Commencing the amazing book which is "Lucky Child," which is a perfect name for Ung since she truly is a "lucky child." What I loved about the book was that Ung continued her old book and write about how she became an artist, what inspired her , and what her and her sister went through to reunite. In certain occasions the book was confusing or left in a suspenseful moment, but apart from all that, the book is well rounded and enjoyable to read. I will definitely recommend it to whoever admires memoirs, especially the memoir of "First They Killed My Father."
With the book "Lucky Child," as the sequel to "First They Killed My Father." Ung, as a child was forced to live under the harsh rule of the Khmer Rouge Regime. Loosing her oldest sister, father, mother, and younger sister she was left with three brothers and one sister. With the amount of gold they owned, Meng(her oldest brother), his wife Eang, and Ung were the only ones to leave to the United States. Now the journey begins between two sisters which are half way around the world from each-other, and no way to communicate in a daily bases. These sister's will have to grow up without each-other and focus on the task ahead. Commencing the amazing book which is "Lucky Child," which is a perfect name for Ung since she truly is a "lucky child." What I loved about the book was that Ung continued her old book and write about how she became an artist, what inspired her , and what her and her sister went through to reunite. In certain occasions the book was confusing or left in a suspenseful moment, but apart from all that, the book is well rounded and enjoyable to read. I will definitely recommend it to whoever admires memoirs, especially the memoir of "First They Killed My Father."
February 24, 2017
Loung Ung pulled me right back into her second book of this series. She takes you on a journey to America where, for her, everything is foreign and she is learning to adjust to a new language, new people, new weather, and new surroundings. She is constantly reminded of her family and the war in Cambodia throughout her life in America. She tells about how she was able to quiet that anger, depression, and anxiety. One of my favorite parts of this book is that she would switch back and forth between what was happening to her and Meng (and his family) in America to Chou and the rest of their family back in Cambodia. It was enlightening to see just how different both sisters lives were being lived. But, that doesn't mean that either one of them was not enjoying life. It was simply to show that though her brother had chosen her to go to America and get an education, it could just have easily been her older sister, Chou. I am anxiously awaiting to get to the bookstore to grab the third book in this series to find out what else she has decided to share about her journey - I was barely able to put the first two books down. I'm sure the third will be the same.
June 22, 2011
This book tugged at my heartstrings. And gave me a serious crush on the author.
When I was in elementary school, a kid showed up on our playground who couldn't speak a word of English. I remember wanting to talk to him - to ask him where he was from, and to invite him to join our football games. The word got around that he was from Cambodia. I had no idea where that was, and even less of an idea what was going on there. I was completely unaware of what the kid on the playground had been through.
Loung Ung's story describes what it was like growing up with us spoiled, sheltered Americans after surviving the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. It's worth reading on so many levels.
When I was in elementary school, a kid showed up on our playground who couldn't speak a word of English. I remember wanting to talk to him - to ask him where he was from, and to invite him to join our football games. The word got around that he was from Cambodia. I had no idea where that was, and even less of an idea what was going on there. I was completely unaware of what the kid on the playground had been through.
Loung Ung's story describes what it was like growing up with us spoiled, sheltered Americans after surviving the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. It's worth reading on so many levels.
January 2, 2011
After traveling to Thailand I read the book, First They Killed My Father. Seeing the poverty and the slow-paced life there, I was interested in the culture and history of these Asian countries. Lucky Child, follows the story of Loung as she moves to the United States with her brother and sister-in-law. Language and culture barriers and nightmares make the adjustment difficult. Loung also shares the story of her sister Chou who stays behind in Cambodia. Another inspiring memoir of resiliance.
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