A Step From Heaven

Na, An. A Step from Heaven. Asheville, NC: Front Street, 2001.

[Book cover credit: www.worldcat.org]

Genre: Multicultural

Annotation:
This is a story of a Korean family who left their homeland for a better life in America. Told from the point of view of the daughter, Young Ju, this novel exposes the difficulty of making and sustaining a new life in a different country.

Booktalk Review:
Surrender yourself to this powerful story of a Korean family who is trying to make a better life in America and you will feel like you are living it with them. They make sacrifices and find it increasingly harder to assimilate into the culture and all of this takes a toll on the family. The father strikes the mother and makes many sexist comments that attempt to hold the females back. Find out if this new life in America is really only A Step From Heaven.

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• The 2002 Michael L. Printz Award
• Nominated for a 2001 National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category
• 2002 Children's Book Award in YA Fiction - International Reading Association
• 2005 California Collections Selection
• 2005 Asian American Booklist, Grades 9 and Up, Read Across America, National Educational Association
• 2001 - 2003 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, Text in Children and Young Adult Fiction – Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
• 2004 Reading List – Women's Division Reading Program Committee, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
• 2003 - 2004 Gateway Readers Award Nominee, Missouri Association of School Libraries
• 2003 - 2004 William Allen White Children's Book Award master list
• 2002 Notable Books for a Global Society – International Reading Association
• 2002 Notable Children's Book – American Library Association
• 2002 Best Book for Young Adults – American Library Association
• 2002 Children's Books of Distinction Award – Riverbank Review
• 2002 Fanfare Book – The Horn Book Honor List
• 2002 Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award
• 2002 CCBC Choices
• 2002 Children's Literature Choice List
• 2002 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Master List
• 2002 Amelia Bloomer Project List
• 2002 White Ravens – International Youth Library of Munich
• 2002 Notable Books for the Language Arts – NCTE
• 2002 Notable Books for a Global Society, Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest group of the IRA
• 2001 Editor's Choice – Booklist
• 2001 New York Times Book Review Notable Book
• 2001 Best Books – School Library Journal
• 2001 Kiriyama Prize Notable Book Shortlist
• 2001 Best Children's Books – Publishers Weekly
• 2001 Best Book – teenreads.com
• 2001 Book LInks Lasting Connections
• 2001 Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children
• 2001 Top 10 Youth First Novels – Booklist

Author's Website:
http://www.anwriting.com/