A Step from Heaven

Goodreads Says:    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.

My Thoughts:

-    Feel free to grab your torches and pitchforks for my opinions, but remember they are just my opinions and I don't expect anyone to feel the same. 

-    Even though I am Korean, I have never been on the diverse books bandwagon. Honestly, I don't think it matters. If Katniss had been black, Indian, Asian, or of any other race, it would not have changed who she was or what she had to do. A lot of readers picture different looking characters in their head anyway. Why should it matter what race a character is? One of the joys of reading is that your imagination takes over and you create what the characters look like to you. I don't think the way to get rid of racism is to point it out and make race obvious. Personally, I wish people just didn't notice. I love being Korean, and I am very proud of the way I look and where I came from, but I don't always enjoy it when people blatantly point it out. Aren't we all different and unique?

-    After reading this book, I understand why we need diverse books a little better. Yes, it was nice to read about a little Korean girl. I couldn't sympathize with everything, but I did love reading about the things I could relate to, like the impossible to deal with Korean hair. And yes, because this character was Korean, I felt for her a lot.

-    But again, her situation and story could have happened to ANYONE! Any race of child could have moved to a strange country, had an abusive alcoholic father, and dealt with a lot of the things she had to deal with. This story is not exclusive to Koreans, but to many children. 

-    I liked the use of the Korean language and how things were phonetically spelled.

-    I really felt for Young Ju. Her parents were confusing, and this is a beautiful story of how she finds herself.

-    I loved the way the book was written. It was poetic and lovely, and I liked how it portrayed the struggles of immigrating to a new country.