About this item
When Loung Ung came to America in 1980 as a ten-year-old Cambodian refugee, she had already survived years of hunger, violence, and loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, a story she told in her critically acclaimed bestseller, First They Killed My Father. Now, in Lucky Child, Ung writes of assimilation and, in alternating chapters, gives voice to a genocide survivor she left behind in rural Cambodia, her older sister Chou.Loung was the lucky child, the sibling Eldest Brother chose to take with him to America. The youngest and the scrappiest, she was the one he believed had the best chance of making it. Just two years apart, Chou and Loung had bonded deeply over the deaths of their parents and sisters. As they stood holding hands in their dusty village while the extended family gathered to say good-bye, they never imagined that fifteen years would pass before they would be reunited again.
About the Author
Author, lecturer, and activist, Loung Ung has dedicated much of her life to promoting equality and human rights in her native land and worldwide. In recognition of her work, The World Economic Forum selected Loung as one of the "100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow."
Loung's memoir, First They Killed My Father: a Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (HarperCollins 2000) is a national bestseller and recipient of the 2001 Asian/Pacific American Librarians' Association award for "Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature", and has been published in Khmer, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and other languages. She has appeared widely on news programs and other media. She is also the author of Lucky Child and Lulu in the Sky, both published by HarperCollins. she is now working on a novel.
Today, Loung has made over 30 trips back to Cambodia. When not working and traveling, she enjoys eating fried crickets and riding her tandem bike with her husband Mark. Together, they are partners/owners of a trio of restaurants and microbrewery--the Belgian Bier Markt, Bar Cento, and Market Garden Brewery--in Cleveland, Ohio.
