A Step from Heaven

by An Na (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $18.36

  In this first novel, a young girl describes her family's bittersweet experience in the United States after their emigration from Korea. While going up and up into the sky on the flight from Korea to California, four-year-old Young Ju concludes that they are on their way to heaven - America is heaven! After they arrive, however, Young Ju and her parents and little brother struggle in their new world, weighed down by the difficulty of learning English, their insular family life, and the traditions of the country they left behind. An Na's striking language authentically reflects the process of acculturation as Young Ju grows from a child to an adult.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $3.45

  Young Ju and her parents are going to live in America, where everyone can make lots of money. She thinks they are on their way to heaven. But when her uhmma (mother) and apa (father) have to work three jobs just to pay the rent and everyone speaks a new language and has new customs, Young Ju feels caught between two cultures. Her uhmma tells her she is a strong American girl with a future but her father is angry with her when she is not a respectful Korean daughter. And when her brother Joon comes along, she is even more convinced that nothing she does is right. But just as the family threatens to destroy itself Young Ju finds the courage to defy the restrictive customs of her family and seek the help they need. This is a powerful and elegant novel about a girl's journey to adulthood and a family's struggle for a better life, which will resonate with migrants everywhere.