I read Loung's first book and liked it, but something about it subtly bothered me. Reading this book, I realized that it was the anger that underlay the whole thing. She's certainly more than entitled to the anger, but it doesn't always make for the best writing or reading.

This book has been written by a more mature and settled Loung, and it shows. There's more reflection and a lot more humanity, bringing depth to the portraits of family members who were shown more one-dimensionally in the first book: an inevitable byproduct of the book being told straight from a child's point of view, and that of a child focused intensely on survival. I especially liked in this book how the "scary" brother Khouy was given added nuances of character; the moment when he said, hearing of his small sister's death, that "she was so small" brought a lump to my throat. The characters of the brothers and sisters are fleshed out here in a way that's really delightful and much more interesting to read than in the previous book.

What's best about this, I think, is how we're given a look at the love between the siblings and the incredibly resilience of the family members who stay in Cambodia. It's also a good portrait of how some people in Cambodia are moving on with their lives: in our minds, so much of Cambodia remains the war and the killing fields. We need to know that people are surviving and living their lives despite the shadows of this past: it makes the nation real to us instead of a symbol.

A gripping story that kept me up too late to read through it in one sitting. Some reviewers have said the sections on Chou were not as good as those on Loung, but I didn't find that at all -- I could actually have read a lot more from her point of view.

One quibble: the book needed slightly better proof-reading. There were a few spelling mistakes that spell-check missed, and an astounding miss on a picture caption, where one of the Angkor Wat temples was labelled "Wat BYRON" instead of "Wat Bayon." Otherwise, an excellent read.

Loung Ung's fascinating second book, Lucky Child, picks up the story that began with her first memoir, First They Killed My Father, and with both books I found it impossible to put them down once I'd begun reading. Lucky Child contrasts life for Loung as a refugee in America, with her sister Chou's life in rural Cambodia, and it's a revealing and moving comparison. Loung, with lasting feelings of guilt for those she'd left behind, found it difficult to fit in, whilst Chou, resigned to her fate, displayed the resilience and inner strength that is apparent in so many of her fellow countrymen and women.

I found two parts of this remarkable book particularly poignant, the heart-rending death of three-year-old Kung and the reunion between Chou and her brother Meng after a separation of eleven years. These passages were hard to read. Whilst the eventual meeting of Loung and Chou is an awkward affair, the tale of their brother Kim's escape from Cambodia to France is enthralling. The book tells a tale that underscores the importance of the bond between family members, the sheer strength of the human spirit and will to endure and most of all, it's a story of two sisters who have survived and flourished against all odds. Loung Ung has a special talent at storytelling. I recommend this book without hesitation.

It's hard and saddening to know that while I was living a life of ease, Loung and her family were struggling to survive the war in Cambodia, as well as life in the U.S.

This is an important book which carries the message that, like war veterans, refugees fo war torn countries do not leave the violence behind them, that it continues to color their life.

This book should be a must read for everyone, not only so the events in Cambodia are not forgotten, but so that we can learn to appreciate what we have.

Both books by this author are wonderful. Another deeply moving memoir is Night. The author was in a World War II. concentration camp.

Last year, I picked up First They Killed My Father while I was in Cambodia. I had already read Chanrithy Him's - When Broken Glass Floats. Both of these books are very powerful and must reads in the genre of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979. Lucky Child is a book that takes place in a completely different world. At the end of "First They", we see Loung heading for a new life in America and we all give a sigh of relief.

Lucky Child goes in depth into the difficulties of a minority trying to adapt to white American society. All the while, Loung has everything she experienced in Cambodia continually gnawing at her spirit - the loss of her family being the most difficult for her. As the author, she is our focus, but in Lucky Child, we also get a very good look at her older sister Chou and what life was like in Cambodia in the years following the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

This book is powerful and tough to put down. It tugs at the heartstrings and provokes deeper thought into our own lives and values. Lucky Child is one of the finer books that I have read in some time and I highly reccomend it to anyone who is interested in Cambodia, the peoples, customs and landscapes of that beautiful country, and human nature, suffering, and the will to succeed. This is a book not to be missed!

If you're a human being, you should read this inspiring and moving book. Yes, it will tug at your heartstrings and enliven your empathy, but it will also make it crystal clear how a stridently divisive political and social climate - worse than, but politically not unlike America today - can push people into doing the unthinkable to their neighbors, while leaving others asking, "How could this have happened?" It's all her story, but anyone with a brain...and a heart...can see its connection to his or her own life.

Loung Ung's writing is an elegant and eloquent, yet down-to-earth style that you won't be able to pull away from. In "Lucky Child," she again demonstrates her masterful storytelling ability and delivers a unique, and often heartbreaking, look inside another culture. And our own.

This book will make you think, make you feel, and, hopefully, encourage you to act the next time you hear the words "abuse" or "genocide." Definitely a must-read.