An Eyewitness Account of the Cambodian Genocide

From 1975 to 1979, 1.7 to 2 million Cambodians, a quarter of the country’s population, died under the Khmer Rouge regime. One of seven children of a high-ranking governmental official, Loung Ung was only five when the soldiers stormed into her city, forcing Loung’s family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Orphaned, separated from her siblings, Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans where she was taught to hurt and hate. From an innocent girl to an angry child soldier to a bewildered refugee in America, Loung Ung shows that your past does not have to predetermine your future. Through her work, writing and activism, Loung shares how she was able to reclaim her voice, redeem herself, and to stand against injustices.
A life-long activist, Loung Ung is a public speaker, bestselling author of First They Killed My Father, Lucky Child, and Lulu in the Sky, and a co-screenplay writer of a 2017 Netflix Original Movie, "First They Killed My Father." For her work, the World Economic Forum selected Loung as one of the "100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow." She has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, People Magazine, CNN, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and The Today Show.