when pol pot's khmer rouge army stormed into phnom penh in april 1975, ung's family fled their home and moved from village to village to hide their identity, their education, their former life of privilege. eventually, the family dispersed in order to survive. because loung was resilient and determined, she trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans while other siblings were sent to labor camps. as the vietnamese invaded cambodia and overthrew the khmer rouge, the surviving siblings were slowly reunited. bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and sustained by her sister's gentle kindness amid brutality, loung forged herself a new life.