A Step From Heaven
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books · Paperback · July 26, 2016
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) From master storyteller An Na comes the Printz Award–winning novel about a Korean girl who tells her firsthand account of trying to find her place and identity in America from the day she leaves Korea as a child to her rocky journey through the teenage years.
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- Who it’s for
- A young immigrant’s search for belonging unfolds alongside the strain and changing bonds within her family.
- Genres
- Immigration for Teens, Asian American YA, Diverse YA Fiction
- Published
- Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, July 26, 2016
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) From master storyteller An Na comes the Printz Award–winning novel about a Korean girl who tells her firsthand account of trying to find her place and identity in America from the day she leaves Korea as a child to her rocky journey through the teenage years. At age four, Young Ju moves with her parents from Korea to Southern California. She has always imagined America would be like heaven: easy, blissful, and full of riches.
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But when her family arrives, she finds it to be the opposite. With a stubborn language barrier and cultural dissimilarities, not only is it impossible to make friends, but even her family’s internal bonds are wavering. Her parents’ finances are strained, yet her father’s stomach is full of booze. As Young Ju’s once solid and reliable family starts tearing apart, her younger brother begins to gain more freedom and respect simply because of his gender. Young Ju begins to lose all hope in the dream she once held—the heaven she longs for. Even as she begins to finally fit in, a cataclysmic family event will change her idea of heaven forever. But it also helps her to recognize the strength she holds, and envision the future she desires, and deserves.
Finding a Place
A young immigrant’s search for belonging unfolds alongside the strain and changing bonds within her family.
Come here for
- A Korean American coming-of-age story grounded in family and belonging
- A firsthand perspective on the distance between an imagined America and lived reality
Expect
- A sustained, intimate account spanning childhood through the teenage years
- A clear-eyed look at gender, cultural dislocation, and the shape of hope
Where it sits
| Asian American YA | 63% |
|---|---|
| Immigration for Teens | 54% |
| Diverse YA Fiction | 39% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Asian American YA
- Abuse & Trauma for Teens
- Prejudice & Racism for Teens
- Authors
- An Na
- Publisher
- Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
- Published
- July 26, 2016
- Format
- Paperback
- Reading lane
- Asian American YA