A Step from Heaven by An Na

ISBN: 1886910588
Publisher: Front Street. (2002)
156 p.

Reading Level: Grade 9 and up.

Summary:

Young Ju and her parents emigrate from Korea to America, and Young Ju believes that the ride she takes in an airplane will take her to heaven. Once in America, however, Young Ju struggles to learn the language, fit in with her peers, welcome a new brother, as well as help her family become acclimated to their new surroundings. Her father grows distant and cold as his dreams for their new future don’t pan out, and he returns to drinking in order to drown his sorrow. Unfortunately, this also manifests itself as verbal and physical abuse for the family, the mother receiving the brunt of it. Navigating her American life along with her proper, Korean life proves to be harder and harder as the years go on, until it culminates one night in a swirl of police sirens and jail. Using short and powerful chapters, An Na captures what it feels like to be in a new land with new people and customs. Through all the hardships and the joys, the reader rides along on a young girl’s voyage to womanhood.

Critical Evaluation:

This stirring novel of a child who emigrates from Korea to the United States with her family when she is small should shed a light for some readers about the hardships of being an immigrant. The theme of immigration has been handled in many novels and memoirs, but in this novel the language is as though it is heard by the main character herself as she assimilates to life in the United States. Phrases such as "Mi-Gook" signify America, or what Young Ju perceives as heaven when she notices that

All of the floors are covered with a warm white blanket that is soft on my feet. And the rooms do not have rice paper doors but a big piece of wood like the stores in the village. Everyone in heaven must be very rich to have so many blankets and wooden doors inside the house. (p. 26).

The beautiful language, rich with metaphors, is used throughout the novel, as well as the use of lyrical chapter headings that imbue the story with a feel that this is a novel written in poetry. As Young Ju listens to her parents fighting, from the time she was young, and the violence that erupts from her father, she hides under her covers “because the breaking is too loud, too strong . . . It sits in my chest, hitting my heart until my eyes bleed water from the sea.” (p. 10). The hopelessness and grief that engulf the character are so realistic that this book reads more like a memoir than a novel, taking certain details from the author’s life. All those who oppose immigration should read novels such as this and La Línea and see what it’s like to “walk in another’s shoes.”

  

Reader’s Annotation:

A new country, emotionally distant parents, and a new brother make Young Ju’s childhood hard to bear.
At times, “An ache deep and wide as the sea threatens to drown my heart.” (p. 124).

Author Biography:

An Na was born in Korea and grew up in San Diego, California. She has worked as a middle-school teacher and a history teacher. She is now working on her third novel and lives in Vermont.

Aside from her first novel, A Step from Heaven, which received a Michael J. Printz award, she’s also written Wait for Me which deals with the stress a “perfect” daughter deals with and The Fold which is about a young girl offered cosmetic surgery in order to look “more American.”

Genre: Realistic Fiction - Emigration and Immigration.

Curriculum Ties:

This novel could be used in a social studies class in a discussion about immigration and how hard it must be for a family to leave their home and start all over in search of a better life in a new country. The discussion could deal with the kind of problems that would arise. Topics such as language, religion, and ethnic cultural differences could be discussed. There is the section of the novel where Young Ju must help her father talk to the office worker in order to receive her Green Card. One discussion could be about how children who adapt to English quickly through school help their parents weave through the myriad of situations in America.

Booktalking Ideas:

-Why does Young Ju associate America with heaven?

-How does Young Ju help her parents acclimate to their new surroundings?
How are their roles reversed?

-What is God’s role in this novel?

-How does Young Ju’s relationship with her parents and her brother shape this novel?

Read-Alikes:

-The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

-Finding My Voice by Marie G. Lee.

-American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang.

-Face Relations: Eleven Stories About Seeing Beyond Color edited by Marilyn Singer.

Challenge Issue:

I was not able to find any challenges on this novel. There is domestic abuse in the household, but it is vital to the story arc and shapes the adolescence of Young Ju.

Reason to include in blog:

I was researching what might be a good addition to this blog in term of novels about immigrants, and this novel was very high up on everyone’s list. I was not disappointed.

References:

An, N. (n.d.) About An Na. Retrieved from http://www.anwriting.com/author.html

An, N. (2002). A Step From Heaven. Asheville, NC: Front Street.