Title: A Step From Heaven
Citation:
An, N., & Oh, J. (2002). A step from heaven. New York: Random House Audio Pub. Group.
Summary:
This is the story of the Young family’s immigration to the United States when the main character Young is just 4 years old. Mr. and Mrs. Ju have to work multiple jobs and work long hours to make ends meet. Young’s mother is supportive and encouraging, but her father is angry and drinks to much. When he drinks he gets ugly and beats his family. Despite the abuse, Young focuses on her studies and does well in school. Her brother, however, does not do well in school choosing instead to hang out with friends and skip school. Her strong mother, school and friends help to get Young through difficult times until Mrs. Ju leaves Mr. Ju and buys a house for the three of them just before Young leaves for college.
Review:
Gr 8 Up --When four-year-old Young Ju and her parents emigrate from Korea to California by plane, the child, who knows that God is in the sky, concludes that America is heaven. "A step from heaven," her uncle corrects her after they arrive. However, life proves to be far from that for the family, which now includes a new baby. While told in the girl's voice as she matures from a preschooler into a capable young woman about to set off to college, the spare but lyrical text has an adult tone. The loosely structured plot is a series of vignettes that touch upon the difficulties immigrants face: adjusting to strange customs, learning a new language, dealing with government bureaucracy, adults working two jobs each, and children embarrassed by their parents' behavior. Woven throughout is the underlying theme of dealing with an alcoholic and abusive father. Na has effectively evoked the horror and small joys of the girl's home life while creating sympathetic portraits of all of the members of the family. A beautifully written, affecting work. (*) excellent in relation to other titles on the same subject or in the same genre.
Review Source:
Marton, D.S. (May 2001). A step from heaven (Book Review). School Library Journal, 47(5).
Impression:
My husband and I listened to this story on audio discs during a recent road trip across Montana. For some reason hearing someone else read it made the abuse scenes even more powerful and disturbing. The author, An Na, has a great way of using words to describe things without calling them what they are. For example when Young got a perm in her hair it was referred to as “the curly hair treatment” or when Young felt like she might throw up An Na wrote “my stomach wants to push out all the morning rice”. Although accurate in the context of the book, readers should be aware of graphic physical & verbal abuse, some swear words, and references to farting and peeing.
Suggested Use(s):
1. Divide a high school class into small reading groups to read a variety of books with Korean characters during Asian-American History Month. Have a discussion to common elements among the books. How do the lives of the characters differ from their own?
2. This could be touchy but….have an open discussion about the abuse suffered by Young Ju, her mother and brother at the hand of Mr. Ju. What would they do in Young’s place? What laws are there to protect them from abuse?
Additional Information:
Awards: A National Book Award Nominee, A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2001, Michael L. Printz Award
Interest Level: 5-8
Reading Level: 5.5
AR Reading Level: 4.2
Interest Level: UG
Lexile Measure: 670
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