Rating: 
Summary: Good book
Review: This is a very heart-wrenching read & I still look back & remember that part or that part or what ever. I thought this book had a very dreamy feel to it. This is a good book. Not great. Not the best, but worth reading. At the beginning it was hard to understand cuz it doesn't have any quoation marks for when they would talk. This book is sometimes hard to understand, but a good read.
Rating:
Summary: beautifully written
Review: This is a wonderful book in which the main characted, young ju, is a korean girl who has moved to america with her family. She goes through struggles being in a new country, and meets a new friend, Amanda, in which she spends alot of time with. It is a funny book in which it is very much like a traditional korean girl. Although her dad is unstable and has a drinking problem, young ju is a very strong girl. At times she is confused because she is too young to understand her parents problems, but she eventually finds out. She tries her best to please her parents. She received an award for being the top student in her class. She was very delighted that day, and made her mom very proud. Young ju is also a very good older sister to her brother. She learns new things, and goes through alot of new experiences. She's also an intelligent girl who just wants to fit it, and live a normal happy life. I highly recommend reading this book becuase it will make you laugh, and sometimes even feel sad for the main character. It is also a short book so it won't take up too much time. I'm sure it will be an enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: A Mesmerizing, gut-wrenching, heart-warming ballet.
Review: This virtually flawless book traces the steps of Yung Ju, a Korean girl who moves to America (or as she clalls it, "Mi Gook" )as a young child. She thinks she is going to heaven because of all the great things she's heard about it. She soon learns that it is not. Her family struggles to find a place to live, and to learn English. Yung Ju tries her best to do good in school. She makes friends with a girl, only to be forbidden from seeing her. It unfolds into haunting grace as Yung Ju grows and matures into a young woman and her father becomes more and more abusive and becoming an ever closer to becoming an alcoholic and her brother becomes a rebel and ditches school. Strangely graceful yet real and painful, A Step From Heaven dances with pain across the stage with exquisite voice.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Description of the Immigrant Experience
Review: When I heard author An Na speak at a school librarian's convention in Portland, Oregon, in October, 2002, I knew I had to read this book. What she said struck a chord with me, an immigrant who came to this country when I was 3 years old from Holland in 1953. I am also very close to a young man who was adopted from Korea when he was 2 years old. While this powerful story is about a Korean girl adapting to her new life in America, many of the struggles she faces are similar to those that I went through, even though I was a white kid from an earlier generation. I plan to share this emotionally gripping story with my adopted Korean friend, as I believe he will find some things to relate to as well. Don't be put off by the awkward, slow start. That's part of the story's development. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!!
Review: When Young Ju is four years old, she learns that her family is leaving their small fishing village in Korea to live in Mi Gook. Young Ju has heard enough about Mi Gook to be sure the place they are moving to is paradise, that she and her family are going to heaven.
After flying through the sky for a long time, Young Ju finds out that Mi Gook is actually a regular earthly place called America. And it doesn't feel at all like heaven. A STEP FROM HEAVEN follows Young's life from the age of 4 all the way up until she is ready for college, as we watch her change from a hopeful girl into a hardened young adult.
You think you had it bad growing up? Young doesn't speak or even understand English. She must struggle to become the "Mi Gook girl" her mother wants for a daughter, which means losing some of her Korean identity. But it seems that just as soon as she learns the American culture, her parents are afraid she has forgotten her past. Young doesn't want her new American friends to see how "weird" her parents are or the poverty in which they live, so she doesn't invite them over, she lies to both her friends and her family --- and instead of fixing the situation, Young only serves to make herself more lonely. Worst of all, her father's drinking is out of hand. The family thought he would stop when they left Korea, but he hasn't. In fact, he's gotten worse. Now here in America, where Young and her mother don't know a soul and can't communicate well, they feel as if no one can help with his alcoholism. Soon, Young fears for her and her mother's lives.
An Na weaves a wonderfully poetic first novel. Although grand in scope, the novel never feels overdone. The story is sweepingly dramatic without a trace of insincerity --- it feels real. It will open the eyes of anyone who is a part of American society, who has lived here all their lives and never felt like an outsider, and anyone moving here from another country will relate to Young Ju's struggles to learn America's strange ways. An Na is a talented writer who makes sure you know her characters inside and out. Everyone you meet in this book will work his or her way into your heart --- even Young Ju's father --- and you won't forget any of the characters anytime soon. Best of all is Young Ju, a confused girl who is also brave, kind and gentle. You won't escape the pain that Young must deal with every day, as her family struggles to break free from their no-win situation. However, Young sees the beauty everywhere, even in her harsh reality.
Look around. Is there someone you know who is a little different, someone who doesn't get noticed much? You would never guess it, but maybe they could use your friendship right now. A lyrical and beautiful book, this novel is a great read. It flows quickly, is well-written, and you can definitely learn from it. I know I did.
--- Reviewed by Kate Torpie
Rating:
Summary: Also good for persons relocating
Review: Wonderful story and very real, while reading this I thought it to be a good lesson book also. A lesson in general to anyone who has never traveled outside their home country. Our cultural differences from Korea are huge, and heaven is what you make it. I was in Korea for 3 years, I found much natural paradise there. But as for this story, it's a beautiful read, go for it, it will teach you something about the USA that you...Already know but didn't give it much thought. A super book that brings our cultural differences together in a nice story like this is SB 1 or God by Maddox
Rating: 
Summary: A New World
Review: young Ju, is entering a new world with an entirely different eniroment.... this new world is America, read young ju's story as she goes from chilhood into adult as the first generation from her family.read young ju's complicated and funny life story of how she coped with life in America and with the both happy and difficult times that she was brought to face.
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