A Step from Heaven - Hardcover

An Na

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1886910588 ISBN 13: 9781886910584

Publisher: Front Street imprint of Boyds Mills Press, 2001

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

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Approx. 3 hrs. 30 mins.
3 cassettes

2001 National Book Award Nominee

When she is five, Young Ju Park and her family move from Korea to California. During the flight, they climb so far into the sky she concludes they are on their way to Heaven, that Heaven must be in America. Heaven is also where her grandfather is. When she learns the distinction, she is so disappointed she wants to go home to her grandmother. Trying to console his niece, Uncle Tim suggests that maybe America can be "a step from Heaven." Life in America, however, presents problems for Young Ju's family. Her father becomes depressed, angry, and violent. Jobs are scarce and money is even scarcer. When her brother is born, Young Ju experiences firsthand her father's sexism as he confers favored status upon the boy who will continue to carry the Park name. In a wrenching climactic scene, her father beats her mother so severely that Young Ju calls the police. Soon afterward, her father go

About the Author:

An, Na was born in Korea and grew up in San Diego, California. She is a graduate of Amherst College and received her MFA in Writing Children's Literature from Vermont College. A former middle school English and history teacher, she now writes full time. She lives in Kensington, CA. A Step From Heaven is her first novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Front Street imprint of Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1886910588
• ISBN 13: 9781886910584
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176