From a childhood survivor of Cambodia's brutal Pol Pot regime comes an
unforgettable narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving
strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit.
Until the age of five, Lounge 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 Lounge 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.
Because Lounge was resilient and determined, she was 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 vision of the
others--and sustained be her sister's gentle kindness amid brutality--Loung
forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.
