First They Killed My Father: An Eyewitness Account of the Khmer Rouge 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 her family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Orphaned, separated from her siblings, Ung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans where shewas taught to hurt and hate.

Harrowing, yet hopeful, Ung’s powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality. From an innocent chatty girl to a silent child soldier to a bewildered refugee in America, Ung shows that your past does not have to predetermine your future. Through her work, writing and activism, Ung shares how she was able to reclaim her voice, redeem herself, and help many others learn of their own stories.