⇒ PDF Free A Step From Heaven An Na 9780142500279 Books

A Step From Heaven An Na 9780142500279 Books

Download As PDF : A Step From Heaven An Na 9780142500279 Books

A Step From Heaven An Na 9780142500279 Books

An Na's A Step from Heaven, was one of those books that was hard to put down. I was engaged with the novel from the moment I started reading the book. It was interesting to see someone from an experience other than my own. The story is about the hardships that one has to go through to live in America, and those hardships include language barriers, finding friends who welcome outsiders into their country and their lives, and keeping together a family.

I'm not sure how much of A Step from Heaven is based on the author's own experience ( after finding out from the back of the book that the author came to America from Korea when she was young), but I felt as if the events in the novel were real, because there was so much raw emotion behind the characters.

SPOILER ALERT!

Besides the hardships, I found this book to be interesting because of the cultural assumptions that were challenged and allowed me to think about. For instance, I know that in some Asian cultures, girls are often unwanted compared to males because these cultures are still fairly traditional and hold a lot of stigmas and rules about gender roles. I know this because one of my sister's close friends, is from Thailand and she would have had to been killed or sent away if it wasn't for her grandmother who took her in, because there are laws about how many children a family can have just because of the overpopulation, and she may have not had to be sent away from her parents if she were born a boy.

I just felt so sad for Young Ju when I read the line, "I stare down at my bows. Apa did not even want to hold me."

The reason it is important to mention that the boys were wanted more than girls in this culture, is because I first made the cultural assumption at first that Apa's abuse towards his wife and Young Ju were because women were looked down upon as a weaker sex, but then I soon realized as I read on that the father may have been having an affair with another woman and was just an abusive father whom didn't appreciate or deserve Young Ju and her mother.

I'm glad that things got better after he left and that eventually they realized they could live their lives just fine without him, even if it would be different from then on.


Tags : A Step From Heaven [An Na] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. When four-year-old Young Ju Park first hears the words Mi Gook -- Korean for America -- she is sure that they mean Heaven. But when her family moves to Southern California the following year,An Na,A Step From Heaven,Speak,0142500275,Girls & Women,People & Places - United States - Asian American,Emigration and immigration,Family life,Family life;Fiction.,Korean Americans,Korean Americans;Fiction.,Korean Americans;Juvenile fiction.,Children's Teenage fiction & true stories,Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Fiction,Juvenile Fiction People & Places United States Asian American,Juvenile FictionSocial Issues - Emigration & Immigration,Juvenile fiction,Social Issues - Emigration & Immigration,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Young Adult Fiction Girls & Women,Young Adult Fiction People & Places United States Asian American

A Step From Heaven An Na 9780142500279 Books Reviews

I read this book as part of the requirement for a graduate class, and I was engaged from the very first page. A Step From Heaven is the story of a Korean family, told from the point of view of the female protagonist Young Ju, who at the age of four emigrates with her family from a tiny fishing village in Korea to Mi Gook, i.e. the United States. As a young child, Young Ju thinks Mi Gook is heaven, based on all the praises heaped upon it by her relatives. However, Young Ju and her family quickly come to realize that life in the United States is not easy as both of Young Ju's parents are forced to take on menial jobs in order to support the family.

The main characters are credibly portrayed. Young Ju is portrayed as an intelligent and sensitive young woman who goes against the cultural stereotype of a submissive Asian girl. She is vocal when she feels that she has been misunderstood or unfairly treated, especially with regards to her father. Apa, the father character in this story is portrayed in a negative light, yet does not come across as a caricature. As the story progresses, the reader becomes aware that there are extenuating circumstances which have caused Apa to turn to alcohol as a means of drowning his frustrations and sorrow. I did feel that Uhmma was rather weak-willed, and for most of the story, appeared to embody the cultural stereotype of the weak-willed and subjugated Asian wife. For many years, Uhmma suffers physical and emotional abuse, and watches as her children get beaten by their father, and it was hard to sympathize with this character until she sort of redeems herself towards the end. Though the story has lots of Korean cultural references, these references enhance the storytelling and do not overwhelm the story.

The author's writing style is quite simple, with easy, unadorned language that conveys the main characters' experiences. Korean words and expressions are woven into the story in a manner that is not jarring, and do not detract from the reader's engagement with the story. Due to the difficult life led by the characters, the mood is bleak for the most part, though this is offset by the brilliant portrayal of Young Ju, who is kind, gentle and ever hopeful of a better life. It is this sense of hope that shines through at the end.
An Na's A Step from Heaven, was one of those books that was hard to put down. I was engaged with the novel from the moment I started reading the book. It was interesting to see someone from an experience other than my own. The story is about the hardships that one has to go through to live in America, and those hardships include language barriers, finding friends who welcome outsiders into their country and their lives, and keeping together a family.

I'm not sure how much of A Step from Heaven is based on the author's own experience ( after finding out from the back of the book that the author came to America from Korea when she was young), but I felt as if the events in the novel were real, because there was so much raw emotion behind the characters.

SPOILER ALERT!

Besides the hardships, I found this book to be interesting because of the cultural assumptions that were challenged and allowed me to think about. For instance, I know that in some Asian cultures, girls are often unwanted compared to males because these cultures are still fairly traditional and hold a lot of stigmas and rules about gender roles. I know this because one of my sister's close friends, is from Thailand and she would have had to been killed or sent away if it wasn't for her grandmother who took her in, because there are laws about how many children a family can have just because of the overpopulation, and she may have not had to be sent away from her parents if she were born a boy.

I just felt so sad for Young Ju when I read the line, "I stare down at my bows. Apa did not even want to hold me."

The reason it is important to mention that the boys were wanted more than girls in this culture, is because I first made the cultural assumption at first that Apa's abuse towards his wife and Young Ju were because women were looked down upon as a weaker sex, but then I soon realized as I read on that the father may have been having an affair with another woman and was just an abusive father whom didn't appreciate or deserve Young Ju and her mother.

I'm glad that things got better after he left and that eventually they realized they could live their lives just fine without him, even if it would be different from then on.