An Na,
A Step from Heaven
Front Street Books, 2001.

America, the land A Step From Heaven, is where little Young Ju and her family move in order to make a better life for themselves. America is where "everyone can make lots of money even if they did not go to an important school" and where people "live in big houses." Their journey starts out hopeful but America does not prove to be the land of dreams for everyone in her family.

Author An Na shows us early on how Young Ju’s father takes out his frustrations on his family, especially by beating his wife. Eventually, he moves back to Korea while Young Ju, her younger brother, and mother decide to stay. I felt a sense of community shame when I read about the beatings. How could she reveal something like this about her family? What if other people think all Korean men beat their wives? But then I remembered that this was a work of fiction based, perhaps, on real life experience. Regardless, Young Ju’s father is not painted as an evil man, but someonA Step from Heavene who has good qualities too. It is true that some Korean men do beat their wives. It is also true that not everyone stays in America.

Eventually, Young Ju’s hard-working mother buys a nice home for the family. A dream comes true for them. Young Ju is the stereotypical Asian honor student. Her younger brother, though, is the artistic rebel working at Kinko’s, perhaps fulfilling another stereotype. These stereotypes didn’t bother me, because they were not the focus of the book and because An Na does not limit her characterizations to them.

An Na’s use of English is poetic when showing us Young Ju’s voices, from a little girl growing up in a foreign land to a young woman getting ready for college. Although the book was written for the young reader, I recommend this to anyone interested in reading a good involving book.

Joomi Lee