Lucky Child

Lucky Child : A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind Loung Ung

I read most of this sitting at the mechanics on Tuesday morning as they did the 70,000 mile checkup on my beloved Civic. (That means we've put 30,000 miles on that baby in 2 years. That's a bit crazy, I think.)

ANYWAY. It was wonderful. Not nearly as harrowing as the one that came before,
First They Killed My Father : A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers but still powerful reading.

Lucky Childtakes place immediately whereFirst They Killed My Fatherends, on the plane to the States and follows Loung's life in Vermont where she struggles with English and just wants to be normal. Add onto this the normal teenage crap of growing up and returning nightmares and fears about the war and family she left behind. Juxtaposed with this is the story of her sister, Chou's, life after Loung leaves. As Loung goes to school, Chou helps cook and farm with her Aunt and Uncle. Each chapter switches between the two paralell lives and tells a wonderful story.

I highly recommend.