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10th out of 82 books
—
50 voters
Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind (Daughter of Cambodia #2)
by
Loung Ung
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 w...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 11th 2006
by Harper Perennial
(first published April 1st 2005)
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Lucky Child is about a young girl who moves to America during the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The soldiers killed her father in the first book of the pair. I have to say, this was not the best book. It didn’t really help with my understanding of Cambodia. It just followed the girl’s life in America. Yes, it went through her struggles of race, gender, and all of that stuff. I just didn’t really feel emotionally connected or anything to her. Also, everyone had UNG in their name. It was confusing. But I...more
Jan 23, 2013
Carlos
added it
Lucky Child by Loung Ung is the sequel to the breathtaking novel "First they killed my father" that was a story about oppression in Cambodia. Lucky child deals more of what happened after Loung's departure to America and the deep connection she shares with her sister that lives Cambodia.
Lucky Child starst off with Loung living with her older brother and his wife in America. She is surrounded by Americans which she refers to as "Pale Strangers." She has to adapt to American live and live on after...more
Lucky Child starst off with Loung living with her older brother and his wife in America. She is surrounded by Americans which she refers to as "Pale Strangers." She has to adapt to American live and live on after...more
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 gu...more
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 gu...more
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, be...more
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....more
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....more
Not as gripping as First they killed my father, but obviusly not as horrifying subject mater.
The story tells of Loungs struggles as a Cambodian growing up in American, where the language and culture is different, but the nightmares of her past do not go away. Loung alos interweaves the story with that of her sister Chou, who stayed behind in Cambodia.
It starts off a bit slow but comes to quite a powerful finish when Loung is able to put her demons to rest.
You could read this without having read...more
The story tells of Loungs struggles as a Cambodian growing up in American, where the language and culture is different, but the nightmares of her past do not go away. Loung alos interweaves the story with that of her sister Chou, who stayed behind in Cambodia.
It starts off a bit slow but comes to quite a powerful finish when Loung is able to put her demons to rest.
You could read this without having read...more
To be honest, I didn't like this one as much as Ung's first memoir, "First the Killed my Father", but I was so attached to the story that I couldn't put it down, and definitely stained many a page with tears. Although I felt that some of the book would've been better focused on Luong herself (for example, I would've liked to hear more details about why she chose not to write to Chou and the rest of her family all those years! I'm sure there are so many feelings to delve into there...and what mad...more
This is the true story of two sisters, separated by an ocean after surviving the horrors of Cambodia's killing fields. Loung was a child soldier who lost her father, mother, and younger sister at that time. Her older brother is able to afford to take just one of his sisters along to become refugees in the U.S. and Loung, as the youngest, is the "lucky child" chosen.
The first half of this book is the most insightful, as each chapter moves back and forth between what Loung was experiencing in Amer...more
The first half of this book is the most insightful, as each chapter moves back and forth between what Loung was experiencing in Amer...more
Parts of this I liked better than "First They Killed My Father" - I thought the writing, in places, was much better and showed the maturation of the author - but I was frustrated that Ung didn't delve into any of the issues that I was most interested in and just stayed on a surface level back-and-forth narrative that was largely expected. Instead of the rather typical immigrant adjustment story that Ung told, I was fascinated by her unwillingness to write letters to her siblings back in Cambodia...more
In this sequel as Loung's life continues she is able to move to the United States but at the cost of leaving behind her sister and two brothers in Cambodia. She misses them terribly and that, along with adapting to a new culture and school and nightmares of the Khymer Rouge's violence makes for a difficult adjustment as she enters adulthood. She writes all this with honesty and openness. I am so glad that their family was able to reunite and I am thankful that Loung has been able to share her st...more
I had just read "First They Killed My Father," so it was nice to read the sequel shortly after. The first book left off with Loung having just moved to America, and this one picks up with her starting school.
I really enjoyed how this was written and organized, since chapters alternated between Loung's life in Vermont contrasted to her sister's life in Cambodia. Even after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, life was still difficult for the family that stayed behind.
I definitely recommend this to anyon...more
I really enjoyed how this was written and organized, since chapters alternated between Loung's life in Vermont contrasted to her sister's life in Cambodia. Even after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, life was still difficult for the family that stayed behind.
I definitely recommend this to anyon...more
This book was an interesting insight into the lack of closure, even after a conflict has ended.
That said, aspects of the book lacked the purpose of Ung's earlier novel 'First They Killed My Father'.
It was certainly a good read, but repetitive elements, such as the explanation of dreams, causes the novel to lose some momentum, and at times appear contrived.
While I would still recommend this book, it just doesn't quite live up the the standard of the earlier novel.
That said, aspects of the book lacked the purpose of Ung's earlier novel 'First They Killed My Father'.
It was certainly a good read, but repetitive elements, such as the explanation of dreams, causes the novel to lose some momentum, and at times appear contrived.
While I would still recommend this book, it just doesn't quite live up the the standard of the earlier novel.
Sep 04, 2011
Tina
is currently reading it
I read the first book a couple of years ago and cried my way through it. Now after the Khmer Rouge has left Cambodia, how the two sisters pick up the pieces of their lives I find equally heartbreaking. I think because we live next door and this happened during my childhood makes the history of the events so upsetting!
Loung is very discriptive in her surroundings, much more then her first book. I know it has a happy ending, so I'll finish reading it.
Loung is very discriptive in her surroundings, much more then her first book. I know it has a happy ending, so I'll finish reading it.
Another powerful memoir following the author's initial book about growing up in Cambodia during the Pol Pot Regime. Having worked in Thai refugee camps during that era, I often wondered what stories the children would remember. Her sadness, anger and rage are palpable, and well developed. Our rage as readers should be proactive and ensure through our actions that no child or adult should ever be oppressed in our society.
This book quickly became a favorite for me. I first discovered First They Killed My Father in the school library. The cover attracted me, I picked it up, started to read, and fell in love with the story. Finding Lucky Child, the sequal to the book, was just another piece of literature to treasure. Watching as Loung Ung faces her troubling past while growing up as a seemingly normal girl in America is amazing.
So glad Donna recommended this book for our LJ book club. Ung writes the story of her life in the U.S. after leaving Cambodia with her brother and his wife. She weaves the story of the the sister she left behind. Having been to Cambodia last year, Ung's story mirrors many stories we heard. Our tour guide, Rith, shared a very similar story of his family's survival under the Khmer Rouge.
This second book shows the post-traumatic reaction more explicitly, and is more interior and emotional. This may be in part a result of reader feedback, or the growing maturity and self-awareness of the child protagonist, or an adaptation to Western narrative style. Reading In the Shadow of the Banyan, which has been fictionalized from the author's experience, I noticed much more lyricism and emotional depth. I see this as evidence of the shift in genres--fiction allows for a more poetic narrati...more
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.
Loung Ung's second book, after First They Killed My Father... her compelling memoir of assimilating to life as a Cambodian teen refugee in Vermont in the late 70's, contrasted to the life of her one-year-older sister who had to stay in Cambodia as the Khmer Rouge continued to reign. Touching, tough, funny. I love Loung!
I read the first one back in 2000 and plan to read her third soon. Too bad the U.S. didn't come in and rescue these people during the terror they endured from the Khmer Rouge. Our intelligence had to have known about it. I'd love to see our military used for true rescue and humanitarian missions.
"Lucky Child" was the only book I had to read for summer reading this year. Only hearing a summary of the book, I went into this book like I go into most summer reading books- let's just get this over with.
I was pleasantly surprised by how good the book was. The chapters were short and easy to read, but still extremely interesting. It was amazing what Loung, Chou, and her family had to go through. It was really inspiring to read- it really puts thing in perspective for just an everyday American...more
I was pleasantly surprised by how good the book was. The chapters were short and easy to read, but still extremely interesting. It was amazing what Loung, Chou, and her family had to go through. It was really inspiring to read- it really puts thing in perspective for just an everyday American...more
It was interesting to read more about Luong and Chou's lives after they separated, especially about how Luong adjusted to life in America. However, a lot of the book was spent reiterating what happened in the first book. Since this was more of a sequel than a stand-alone book, that got kind of annoying. I still enjoyed it though. The topic is fascinating.
this book, along with First They Killed My Father, by loung ung, had a profound impact on me personally. (it is essential to read the other one first.) this two books gave shape and form and more importantly faces and names to a piece of history that i previously only given a cursory glance. these two books have hooked my heart and given me a deep love and interest in cambodia.
her startling honesty and vulnerability is absolutely commendable and her story is critical for all of us to hear.
i gav...more
her startling honesty and vulnerability is absolutely commendable and her story is critical for all of us to hear.
i gav...more
I liked this book and read it very quickly, I think mostly because reading personal memoirs/narratives is how I prefer learning history. I don't think it's an amazing book, but I came among with a strong image of life in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge and a curiosity to find out more.
Despite being a coming of age book about the contrasting lives of Cambodian sisters separated by continents, this is an adult book. A very interesting story, but I preferred the content and writing style of the author's previous book, First They Killed My Father.
This autobiography picks up where "First They Killed My Father" left off. The family is divided as Loung, her oldest brother, and his wife immigrate to America, while the rest of the family is forced to remain in Cambodia. Loung contrasts her struggles to assimilate into American culture, with her sister's struggles just to survive in Cambodia. This book really brings home the point that even though a war is over, life can still be very difficult-- in a number of ways-- for the people who were a...more
Feb 10, 2011
Cheryl/Aradanryl
marked it as interesting-possibilities
Recommended to Cheryl/Aradanryl by:
Reviews
interesting reviews. Non-fictional account of a Cambodian immigrant and surviving the horrors that occurred there. Sequel to First They Killed My Father.
I met the author at a teacher's conference years ago. My copy of First They Killed My Father is autographed. This sequel had gut-wrenching moments, too, but ultimately has a happy ending. Each chapter alternates between the life of Loung, who came to America as a refugee, and her sister Chou, who stayed behind in Cambodia.
Oct 05, 2011
Sarina Vega
added it
I really loved it. It was a softer tale, probably, than First They Killed My Father. But, all the while still eventful and touching. I really enjoyed hearing Loung's story and hearing from my elders who are also immigrants during that same time, they both have relatable stories.Chou seems like a sweetheart and I am overjoyed that she is still alive.
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An author, lecturer, and activist, Loung Ung has advocated for equality, human rights, and justice in her native land and worldwide for more than fifteen years. Ung lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband.
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Apr 14, 2013 08:21am