“Wait, he says. Mi Gook is almost as good as heaven. Let us say it is a step from heaven. I do not like his words. A step from heaven? I crawl off his lap and stand up straight. I say loud in my best voice, If this is not heaven, I want to go home.” (p. 26)
Na, An. A step from heaven. New York: Speak. 2001.
Genre: Multicultural
Review:
When four-year-old Young Ju Park hears the words ‘Mi Gook’ she is sure that her family is talking about heaven. After all, they are always saying great things about it and what else could make them so happy? But when her family moves to Mi Gook she discovers that it is not heaven at all. As Young Ju and her Korean family adjust to living in America (the mysterious Mi Gook she had heard them talking about) they all find the experience not at all what they were expecting. As Young Ju grows up, she faces the challenge that most children of immigrants face: how to balance between two different cultures.
While many of these types of novels are told in retrospect, this story is told from Young Ju’s point-of-view in the present tense and thus the sentence structure, understanding, etc. develops and grows with her. This made the book interesting to read and the insights into an immigrant’s life and the cultural aspects of the novel also added to its appeal. A great novel to help understand an immigrant’s perspective.