Rating: 
Summary: there are not enough stars to rate this book
Review: First they killed my father is about Loung, the author, who experienced genocide in Cambodia. In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge took over the Cambodian government and decided to create their own society. To create this society they killed, hurt, and corrupted many children, Ung describes these experiences and struggles.The word that Loung choice was really powerful. The book is very overwhelming because of the events that occur thoughout the book. One of the events that captured me was when her sister, Keav was sent to the infirmary because she got really sick. When Ma, her mother went to visit her and saw that " They just let her lie there in her sickness and dirty sheets" (97) to die, it was really hard for Ma and the whole Ung family because they knew she wasn't going survive and there is nothing they can do. I really enjoy reading this book and I would recommend it, even if it was hard to read sometimes because of the cruelty of the Khmer Rouge solider. This book wasn't only educational, but it is written in words created by genuine inner emotions, which is why it so powerful story because in a way it forces you to live and feel her experience. Therefore, I would love to recommend this book to my peers, adults, and other schools. While reading this book 3 things to keep in mind are that she was really young while the Khmer Rouge were in power, she is really vulnerable because she is young, and in the camps there is no positive atmosphere. These 3 things affect her feelings of the way she sees the world and her self.
Rating:
Summary: Unable to put down this book
Review: This horrifying real-life story is told in a simple way by Loung Ung. It's unbelievable that a little girl of 5 years old can endure so much and yet succeed and stand up to the horror of the Khmer Rouge goverment. There are not as many literatures on the horror of communist Pol Pot's dictatorship as they do on China. Loung Ung's father was a government official before the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia. Ung's family had to flee from Phnom Penh as all previous government officials will be killed and the book showed how much of poverty and hunger that their family had to suffer. The way Ung described the way children and adults were killed was terrifying and how even if people were not killed by the army, they would die of hunger, food-poisoning, etc. This book is very easy to understand as the author said it the way she saw it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Cambodia, their culture and the genocide that was commited by the Khmer Rouge.
Rating:
Summary: My new favorite book
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful book. I wish that I hadn't read it yet so I could go back and read it again for the first time. It is a haunting recount of the transition of Cambodia's government by Pol Pot and the Khmer rouge and an amazing story of the people who were able to survive it. Fantastic writing that keeps you glued to every page. THis book really makes you realize the lack our hardship in your own life.
Rating:
Summary: Survivor in Time
Review: Loung Ung is a heroine simply because she survived. She describes her life living in Cambodia during the Pol Pot Regime's invasion. Starting at age five, she vividly recounts her thoughts and feelings from day to day. The story takes you on a journey through a time of betrayal, murder, disease, sadness, and courage. The phrase "life is not always fair" took on a whole different meaning to me after reading this book. I realized that my life was not bad at all in comparison. To begin with, I have food to eat and a bed to sleep in. This book opened my eyes into a time period of history that I hadn't known existed. the author spares no details as she tells the horror of her life story and all the events that happened in it. The book is definantly not a feel good, happy story, but something you read to learn and reflect upon as you come to see of one persons sheer determination to live. Loung Ung wrote this story to help her heal from her past. As a reader I was very glad she took the time.
Rating:
Summary: An Essential Reading
Review: Forget Britney....And do you tend to complain of your life's miseries because you are not Britney? This is the kind of literature that makes you a different person, if you read it. You won't be the same, I promise. You'd appreciate the simplest of things in life...a drop of water, a grain of rice, a grain of sugar...and love and support from the family. It should be on a reading list for every students.
Rating:
Summary: Moved me so much on the human spirit
Review: As I'm now travelling in the Southeast Asia I would want to read some books about this area. I found Ms Luong Ung's book in a bookstore in Nha Trang of Vietnam (original copy!). Once I started to read it I had to stop for some time to get some fresh air before I could finish it. The book was so greatly written but the story was so horrible, it's impossible to be unmoved by the knowledge that this is not a fiction but a real life story that happened at the time of my generation. I felt the sorrow when Ms Luong's father, and later her mother, were taken away by the Khmer Rough, I felt the happiness when she finally started a new life in America. I was born in Aug 1977 and it's somehow quite difficult to imagine that when I was well brought up in a peaceful place (in Hong Kong), then a girl and other children of my generation living very near to me would force to serve for the children army and suffer from great miseries and unspeakable carnage. This book definitely tells us how lucky we are, how precious a life can be, and how one politician's stupid idea would ruin so many lives and families. Thanks Ms Loung for writing such a great book to share her experience with all of us, it must have taken you great courage to tell us your story, which moved me so much on the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: First They Killed My Father
Review: This book written by Loung Ung is one of the most facinating books I've ever read. It made me feel ignorant not knowing about any of this happening just 30 years ago. This is a must read book. If you are interested in what Hitler did to the Jews then this might interest you as well.
Rating:
Summary: You must read this book
Review: This book is a must read for anyone. Period. If you are even considering this book, I urge you to read it. It will change you. It's not easy to stomach, but you will not be able to put it down. You race through it hoping that the next page or the next chapter will bring you some relief from the nightmare that these characters live in, but you get none and you realize how infinitely small your discomfort is relative to the hell that milions of people lived through (or died in) during that time in Cambodia. And throughout, you can not believe the strength of these people and their ability to survive. You will feel the absolute strength of the love of this family and you will think at times that it is almost powerful enough to change their fates. You are rooting for them every step of the way and hoping for a different outcome than the one whose first step is stated in the title. It is an absolutely essential read.
Rating:
Summary: Must read
Review: Long Ung's book stays with you long after you put it down. The horror of the events that transpire are surpassed only by the realization that her story was an example of not just ones suffering but millions during this time, and throughout history. This book is very much worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: READ IT
Review: I am so sad to read this but its something that needs to be read. this is another one that should be required reading in high school.
I am not a writer so just take it that I cant do this one justice, and read it.
you will not be able to put it down.
its the story of a little girl in cambodia during a horrific time...
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