A Step From Heaven
by An Na
List Price:
Our Price: $3.99
You Save: $4.00 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: An NaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-01-13
ISBN: 0142500275
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Speak
Book Reviews of A Step From Heaven
Book Review: a great read about immigration into the united states
Summary: 5 Stars
A Step From Heaven
An Na ISBN-1-886910-58-8
Change is formidable! People settle into one way and it is difficult to adjust, whether it's customs, language or what you eat everyday. A Step From Heaven is about a four year-old girl who moves to America from Korea. Young Ju has a hard life in Korea and it always seems like her father is in a oppressive mood. When she hears she is moving to a place called Mi Gook she believes that she is moving to Heaven and will join her dead grandmother, when, in reality, Mi Gook is America. "I am a mountain rabbit bouncing, running. Where am I going? I am going to see Harabugi. And when Halmoni comes, I will ask her if she liked the bus called an airplane. In Mi Gook, everyone will be happy and filled with love. I am a mountain rabbit bouncing, running closing my eyes. Waiting for heaven." Young Ju arrives in America after a long journey on a plane with her mother and father. They move into a cramped place that they rent from a Korean man they call "Uncle Tim". After she lives in America for a while, she talks to Uncle Tim about living in heaven and he tells her that this is America, which he tells her to consider "a step from Heaven".
Young Ju has to struggle with adapting to American culture while trying not to forget her parents' Korean customs. Unfortunately, America still does not improve her father's temper and he is often drunk. Her father, or Apa, gets only low-paying manual labor jobs. Young Ju's family is poor and lives in a very plain condominium with limited space. This embarrasses her because her wealthier friend, Amanda, whom she meets once she starts school, has very involved, loving parents and lives in a pleasant upscale house. Whenever Amanda offers to drop her off at her house, Young Ju tells her she lives in one of the big, wealthy homes at the top of the hill and then, after Amanda drives away, Young Ju walks down the hill to her own house. She pretends her parents are chefs who work all the time so her friend can't ever come over. Young Ju builds up so many lies that she finds herself trapped in them. As the book goes on, and Young Ju gets older, her family problems only grow until Young Ju's father is so unhappy and abusive to her and her mother that something must change. Young Ju's American perspective helps her realize her family might have choices which they did not have in Korea.
A Step From Heaven is a powerful book about immigration. The voice of Young Ju begins as a young child and grows up with the story, which I think makes the book increasingly exciting as Young Ju gets more intelligent and able to contemplate what is going on around her.Young Ju's far-from-normal childhood shows intense and even violent differences between Korean and American culture. Young Ju's father feels it is acceptable to treat his wife and child in a way that is actually against the law in America. A less drastic example of this is when Young Ju is invited to her best friend Amanda's birthday party where there will be girls and boys. Her parents will not let her attend. Young Ju's parents accuse American girls of not studying and caring only about boys. This aggravates Young Ju because she knows Amanda does study and is an intelligent person. I think this incident is a dramatic illustration of how Young Ju's parents don't let her do many things that a normal child growing up in America would be allowed to do.
This is the first book about a young girl moving to America that I have ever read. This book took me through a variety of emotions. At times I felt really sad for Young Ju because her family was so hard to deal with. I also felt angry at her father for treating her the way he did. I understood how uncomfortable it was for Young Ju to be in a country and not know the language and have a hard time communicating. There were two things about this book that frustrated me. The first was that ideas were not always followed through. When Young Ju was in her first year of school, she told her class that her brother died to get attention, but that topic was never brought up again and her brother attended the same school. The second thing that bothered me was that at the begining, it was incredibly hard to follow the story because quotation marks were not used when people were speaking. Korean words were also used and then not explained. Even though these parts were frustrating, I am really glad that I kept reading because I ended up loving the book. Young Ju's story is like millions of stories American immigrants could tell every day since America is a country made up of immigrants from every part of the world. I think it is important for people born in America to understand what immigrants go through to live here. This novel, which I would call cultural fiction, could be enjoyed by people of all ages, but is particularly effective for teenagers. I highly recommend this book to people who want to learn about the challanges people face when immigrating to America.
Danielle Goldberg
Summary of A Step From Heaven
A Korean American girl tells of her acculturation into American life from the day she leaves Korea as a child to adulthood.Teens Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Teens Books
13 Little Blue Envelopesby Maureen Johnson
HarperTeen; Published: 2005-08-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Far Northby Will Hobbs
HarperTeen; Published: 2004-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops:
Things Fall Apart: With Connectionsby Chinua Achebe
Holt McDougal; Published: 1999-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.86
Price in other shops:
Holt Physicsby Serway, Faughn
Holt Rinehart & Winston; Published: 2002-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.95
Price in other shops:
Pe Holt Physics 99by Raymond A. Serway, Jerry S. Faughn
Saunders College Publishing; Published: 1999; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.90
Price in other shops:
Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Likeby Jay Williams
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; Published: 1984-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $309.46
Dogsong----INSCRIBED----by Gary Paulsen
Bradbury Press; Published: 1985; Hardcover; Book
White Stallion of Lipizzaby Marguerite Henry
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; Published: 1994-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $176.20
Wings. Aprilynne Pikeby Aprilynne Pike
HarperCollins Children's Books; Published: 2009-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Killers Cousin (Collins Flamingo)by Nancy Werlin
Harpercollins Childs; Published: 2002-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Similar Books and other products
Monsterby Walter Dean Myers
Amistad; Published: 2001-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.92
Price in other shops:
True Believer (Make Lemonade, Book 2)by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Simon Pulse; Published: 2002-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Forever . . .by Judy Blume
Books; Simon Pulse; Published: 2007-04-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.78
Price in other shops:
Teaching YA Lit through Differentiated Instructionby Susan L. Groenke, Lisa Scherff
National Council of Teachers of English; Published: 2010-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $39.95
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indianby Sherman Alexie
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Published: 2009-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.34
Price in other shops:
How I Live Nowby Meg Rosoff
Wendy Lamb Books; Published: 2006-04-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
La Lineaby Ann Jaramillo
Square Fish; Published: 2008-07-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.34
Price in other shops:
The First Part Lastby Angela Johnson
Books; Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Published: 2010-01-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.11
Price in other shops:
Lunaby Julie Anne Peters
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Published: 2006-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops:
American Born Chineseby Gene Luen Yang
Square Fish; Published: 2008-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.29
Price in other shops: