BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Na, An. 2001. A Step From Heaven. New York, NY : Penguin Group. ISBN: 0142500275

PLOT SUMMARY:

When Young Ju Park is four years old, she is living a happy life in Korea with her mother and father. When her mother tells her they will be moving to Mi Gook (America), Young believes that Mi Gook must be heaven, since they will be flying in a plane way up high in the clouds. Her parents believe that moving to America will make their lives easier.

They are disillusioned once they arrive, living in cramped quarters with a relative. They finally find a tiny apartment in a rundown neighborhood to rent and Young soon has a baby brother. She attends school, learns English rapidly, and makes friends. Both parents work jobs and they still struggle to have enough food. Her father has the most difficult time adjusting to the move, never learning more than a few English words. He falls into a pattern of drinking; taking his anger out on his family, often times being physically abusive. Young deals with family stress by trying hard and excelling in school, earning honors. Her younger brother chooses the opposite; he escapes by skipping school.

This is a heart-wrenching story of a family trying to navigate the culture of a new country and the many hardships they must overcome.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

This story is told through Young Ju Park as she is growing up in America. Early in the book, we hear a young girl that thinks Mi Gook is heaven and it must be magical. When people smile widely, she calls it showing your “happy teeth”.

As the family struggles with poverty, we see Young Ju mature in her thoughts. While some of the problems that face this Korean family are the same that many Americans also have, poverty, hunger, job loss; we see how adapting to a new country and language increases the complications they face.

Though there is much despair in Young’s voice and thoughts, glimmers of hope are there as well. On the day her mother finally allows her to buy a Lotto card and indeed they do not win, Young thinks, “A dollar for afternoon dreams is expensive and cheap….But, someone has to win. Somebody gets the jackpot. Why not us?”

The author includes many Korean words, which add an interesting feel to the story being told. Young Ju and her brother play “guy-bye-boh”, rock-paper-scissors, a hand game many of the readers will be familiar with.

This story flows so well, it seems too early for the end when it comes. There is an epilogue titled “Hands” which beautifully compares Young Ju’s soft, tender hands with her mother’s hands, calloused and scarred from physical labor. The reality of how different Yung Ju’s life will be from her mother’s life.

This tender, coming of age story has the reader rooting for the family to overcome the huge obstacles that confront them.

AWARDS:

Michael J. Printz Award – 2002
Children’s Book Award in YA Fiction – International Reading Association – 2002

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Starred Review – Booklist: “the coming-of-age drama will grab teens and make them think of their own conflicts between home and outside. As in the best writing, the particulars make the story universal.”

School Library Journal: “The loosely structured plot is a series of vignettes that touch upon the difficulties immigrants face… A beautifully written, affecting work.”

CONNECTIONS:

• Have a class discussion about Korea. Topics to include: Why Koreans may have wanted to immigrate to America, discuss the many hardships in adapting to a foreign country. Visit this website for further information:

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/gokorea/index1.html

• For more reading on cultural differences and coming of age in America try:

Thomas, Joyce Carol. A Gathering of Flowers: Stories About Being Young in America. ISBN: 9780064470827

Mazer, Anne. America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories. ISBN: 9780892551910

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. ISBN: 9780072435177