A Step From Heaven

Author: An Na

A Step from Heaven is told through the eyes of Young Ju in a series of titled vignettes as she grows from preschooler to young woman. When five-year-old Young Ju and her family emigrate from Korea to California, she believes that the United States will be heaven, a place filled with love, happiness and riches. Life there is more difficult, however, than Young Ju and her family had ever imagined. In a classic immigrant child conflict, Young Ju struggles to adjust to American ways and then disobeys her father in order to participate in typically American activities. The pressures of immigration and working long hours at multiple jobs lead Young Ju's father to become an increasingly violent alcoholic. Young Ju, her mother and her brother contend with the damaging effects of the father's abuse until Young Ju valiantly takes steps that set the family on the path to healing. The novel touchingly captures the ordeals of an immigrant family struggling to adjust to life in this country. The reading level and subject mater make this book appropriate for eighth through twelfth grade students. The book may also succeed with some high level TESOL students.

A Step From Heaven

Year Released: 2001

Grades 8-12