Loung Ung

A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.)

First They Killed My Father

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.

A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind

Lucky Child

Repackaged in a new tie-in edition to coincide with the Netflix film produced and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt, a moving story of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her triumphant spirit as she survived the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot’s brutal regime. Soon to be a feature film on Netflix directed and produced by Angelina Jolie Pitt, an unforgettable narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her triumphant spirit as she survived the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot’s brutal regime. Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. While her beautiful mother worried that Loung was a troublemaker—that she stomped around like a thirsty cow—her beloved father knew Loung was a clever girl. When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung’s family fled their home and moved from village to village to hide their identity, their education, their former life of privilege. Eventually, the family dispersed in order to survive. Loung trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, while other siblings were sent to labor camps. As the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia, destroying the Khmer Rouge, Loung and her surviving siblings were slowly reunited. Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother, the courage and sacrifices of the rest of her family—and sustained by her sister’s gentle kindness amid brutality—Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life. Harrowing yet hopeful, insightful and compelling, this story is truly unforgettable.

A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

First They Killed My Father Movie Tie-in

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter Of Cambodia Remembers

Concluding the trilogy that started with her bestselling memoir, First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung illuminates her struggle to reconcile with her past while moving forward toward happiness. When readers first met Loung Ung in her critically acclaimed memoir First They Killed My Father, she was a young, innocent child in Cambodia. But forced by the Khmer Rouge into the life of a child soldier, she soon found herself locked in a desperate struggle for survival in Cambodia's notorious killing fields. In Lucky Child, her life took a turn. As a refugee in Vermont, she grappled with post-traumatic stress, cultural assimilation roadblocks, and the abandonment of her sister in Cambodia. Now, Lulu in the Sky tells the next chapter in Ung's life, revealing her daily struggle to keep darkness and depression at bay while she attends college and falls in love with Mark Priemer, a Midwestern archetype of American optimism. Lulu in the Sky is the story of Ung's tentative steps into love, activism, and marriage—a journey that takes her to a Cambodian village to reconnect with her mother's spirit, to a vocation focused on healing the landscape of her birth, and to the patience and unconditional support of a very special man.

A Daughter of Cambodia Finds Love, Healing, and Double Happiness

Lulu in the Sky

Soon to be a major film, co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and being cheeky to her parents. When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Loung's family fled their home and were eventually forced to disperse to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier while her brothers and sisters were sent to labour camps. The surviving siblings were only finally reunited after the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and started to destroy the Khmer Rouge. Bolstered by the bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and the gentle kindness of her sister, Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life. First They Killed My Father is an unforgettable book told through the voice of the young and fearless Loung. It is a shocking and tragic tale of a girl who was determined to survive despite the odds.

Repackaged in a new tie-in edition to coincide with the Netflix film produced and directed by Angelina Jolie, a moving story of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her triumphant spirit as she survived the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot’s brutal regime. Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. While her beautiful mother worried that Loung was a troublemaker—that she stomped around like a thirsty cow—her beloved father knew Loung was a clever girl. When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung’s family fled their home and moved from village to village to hide their identity, their education, their former life of privilege. Eventually, the family dispersed in order to survive. Loung trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, while other siblings were sent to labor camps. As the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia, destroying the Khmer Rouge, Loung and her surviving siblings were slowly reunited. Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother, the courage and sacrifices of the rest of her family—and sustained by her sister’s gentle kindness amid brutality—Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life. Harrowing yet hopeful, insightful and compelling, this story is truly unforgettable.

Concluding the trilogy that started with the bestselling memoir First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung describes her college experience and her first steps into adulthood, revealing her struggle to reconcile with her past while moving forward towards happiness. After the violence of the Khmer Rouge and the difficult assimilation experience of a refugee, Loung’s daily struggle to keep darkness, anger, and depression at bay will finally find two unexpected allies: the empowering call of activism, and the redemptive power of love. Lulu in the Sky is the story of Loung’s journey to a Cambodian village to reconnect with her mother’s spirit; to a vocation that will literally allow her to heal the landscape of her birth; and to the transformative influence of a supportive marriage to a loving man.

recuerdos de una niña de Camboya

Se lo llevaron

Loung Ung nació en 1970, durante la sangrienta guerra civil de Camboya, que le costó la vida a más de dos millones de hombres, mujeres y niños. Solo tenía cinco años cuando los Jemeres Rojos se adueñaron del país.En 1978, los padres y dos hermanos de Loung Ung fueron asesinados, y la pequeña fue entrenada como niña soldado durante dos años. Consiguió huir y adquirió el estatus de refugiada política en Estados Unidos. Desde entonces lucha junto a su hermano por las libertades de los ciudadanos de Camboya.En 1997 la organización de la que es portavoz, Campaña de Minas Antipersona, fue galardonada con el Premio Nobel de la Paz.Con Se lo llevaron ha conseguido plasmar una experiencia única que ha dado la vuelta al mundo.

Se Lo Llevaron

***Ein ergreifendes Buch über eine zerstörte Kindheit in einem zerstörten Land – jetzt auch verfilmt von Angelina Jolie*** Kambodscha im April 1975. Soldaten der Roten Khmer rücken in die Hauptstadt Phnom Penh vor. Das Land versinkt in Hunger, Grauen und Mord. Aus dem umhegten Kind Loung Ung wird ein elternloser Flüchtling, der im kambodschanischen Dschungel verzweifelt ums Überleben kämpft. Unsagbares Leid bricht über sie herein. Loung muss sich in einem Waisenlager zum Kindersoldaten ausbilden lassen, ihre Brüder und Schwestern kämpfen in Arbeitslagern verzweifelt um ihr Leben. Allein die Hoffnung, ihre Familie am Ende der Schreckensherrschaft wiederzusehen, spendet Loung Ung Trost. »Reden heißt, meine Familie in große Gefahr zu bringen. Mir fünf Jahren beginne ich zu verstehen, wie es ist, allein zu sein, still und einsam mit der Erwartung, dass mich jeder verletzen könnte.«

Der weite Weg der Hoffnung

Filha de um oficial de alto escalão do governo, Loung Ung teve uma vida privilegiada na capital do Camboja, Phnom Penh, até os cinco anos de idade. Porém, em abril de 1974, o ditador Pol Pot assumiu o poder e liderou um dos regimes mais atrozes da história: o Khmer Vermelho. O exército invadiu a cidade, obrigando a família de Loung a fugir e, eventualmente, a se separar. Enquanto Loung se torna uma criança-soldado, seus irmãos passam a viver em um campo de trabalhos forçados. Primeiro mataram meu pai conta a jornada de Loung e de sua família durante esses anos terríveis. Contudo, este não é um mero relato sobre os horrores de uma ditadura. Sua história é o testemunho da força do espírito humano, capaz de manter a esperança e o amor vivos mesmo em meio à tragédia.

Primeiro mataram meu pai

In 1980, at the age of ten, Loung Ung escaped a devastated Cambodia and flew to the US as a refugee. She and her eldest brother, with whom she escaped, left behind their three surviving siblings, and her book is alternately heart-wrenching and heart-warming, as it follows the parallel lives of Loung and her closest sister, Chou, during the 15 years it took for them to be reunited. Their two worlds were very different, and Loung's depiction of the contrast between her life in the affluent West and that of her sister, who navigated her way through landmine-strewn fields and survived raids by the Khmer Rouge, is laced with the guilt she feels about being the lucky one. This powerful story helps us to understand what happens when a family is torn apart by politics, adversity and war. It is also the compelling and inspirational tale of a remarkable woman.

Loung Ung

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