Module 1: A Step from Heaven

Na, An. 2001. A step from heaven. New York: Speak. ISBN 978-0-14-250027-9

In the novel A Step from Heaven, author An Na tells the story of Young Ju Park, a Korean immigrant to the United States. When the story begins, Young Ju is four years old and living in South Korea with her parents and paternal grandmother. Then, Young Ju and her parents move to Mi Gook (Korean for the U.S.), leaving Young Ju’s grandmother behind. Young Ju is not happy about the move, but her parents view “America” as a magical place where people can achieve their dreams, but they find hardship instead. This novel traces Young Ju’s journey from the age of four until her late teens (right before she is getting ready to attend college).

An Na does an excellent job of conveying Young Ju’s struggles of leaving a loved one (her grandmother) behind in Korea, of adjusting to a new culture and a new language, of dealing with the jealousy over a younger sibling who happens to be a prized son, and of growing up with an abusive and an alcoholic father.

An Na skillfully develops the character of Young Ju, and the reader can empathize with her plight of being a foreigner in a new world and having to adjust to an entirely new way of life thanks to carefully chosen descriptions throughout the book. An Na’s writing helps us to view Young Ju's experiences through her perspective. For example, on An Na’s first day of school in the U.S., she meets her teacher who has “cloud hair” and is a “giant person like in the long-ago stories Halmoni [i.e., grandmother]” used to tell Young Ju, about an “old witch who ate bad children for dinner” (Na 2001, p. 28).

From scene to scene, An Na intricately weaves in clues for the reader about Young Ju’s Korean culture, such as not questioning the father, sons being considered more important than girls (seen through the birth of her brother Park Jun Ho), and the importance of saving face (seen when Young Ju and her father visit Immigration to renew her green card, and Young Ju understands more about the procedures than her father, which causes him to be angry).

One thing that is amazing about An Na as a writer is her ability to take an unsympathetic character, like Young Ju’s father, and make the reader feel sympathy for him. For example, because Young Ju’s father is alcoholic and abusive, the family must walk on eggshells around him or risk being slapped, kicked in the stomach, or worse. However, we are given glimpses of his goodness in the midst of the evil. We see how he was a dreamer, how he would occasionally play games with his children, and how he taught Young Ju to not be afraid of the waves in the ocean when she was a young child.

This book, organized in vignette form, spanning approximately fourteen years in the life of Young Ju, is worth the read. I would recommend this book for students’ independent reading and in whole class novel studies. This book would fit well in English or Social Studies classes paired with unit topics and themes such as Asia, Asian literature, immigration, alcoholism, or abuse.

Extras

• Winner of the 2002 Michael L. Printz Award
• A 2001 National Book Award Finalist
• An ALA Notable Book
• An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
• An IRA Young Adult Choice Book
• A Horn Book Fanfare Book
• A New York Times Best Book of the Year
• A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
• 2001 Kiriyama Price Notable Book Shortlist
• A Publishers Weekly Best-Seller

A Publishers Weekly, April 2004 book review says this of A Step from Heaven: “In a fluid, lyrical language, Na convincingly conveys the growing maturity of her perceptive narrator who initially (and seamlessly) laces her tale with Korean words, their meaning evident from the context. And by its conclusion, readers can see a strong, admirable young woman with a future full of hope” (p. 65).

Book Cover Art found at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Step-Heaven-Na/dp/0142500275/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1285037065&sr=8-1

Module 1: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, Sherman. 2007. The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-01369-7

Meet fourteen-year-old Arnold Spirit, Jr. (aka Junior). According to Junior’s self-description, he is a big-headed, big-footed, eye-glass wearing, skinny, goofy-looking person (Alexie 2007, pp. 1-3). In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, writer Sherman Alexie delivers one of the most interesting 21st-Century protagonists in fiction in the form of Junior. Through first-person dialogue laden with crispness and humor, the reader is introduced to Junior, his family, his friends (such as the infamous Rowdy and Penelope, Roger, Gordy, and Eugene), and his life on the Spokane Indian reservation.

Junior was supposed to be brain damaged thanks to being born with too much spinal fluid in his skull, but instead, he is smart. Very smart. Junior makes the decision to leave the reservation’s school and begin attending Reardon, a white school, after an incident of textbook throwing involving his geometry teacher Mr. P. Mr. P urges Junior to leave the reservation or face the fate of becoming defeated like many of his family and friends on the reservation (Alexie 2007, p. 43). Mr. P tells Junior that he will find hope the further he travels from his home. As a result, Junior decides to leave his reservation school and transfer to Reardon. Junior’s parents support him, but many of the people on the reservation do not, and in fact, take this action as a betrayal, including Junior’s best friend Rowdy.

Once at Reardon, Arnold Spirit’s journey to manhood and hope truly begin. Arnold comes to realize that he is just as smart, if not smarter, than many of his white classmates at Reardon. Arnold discovers a thirst for learning that is fostered through his friendship with Gordy, and Arnold comes to believe in himself. However, Arnold’s journey is not without much pain. He faces racism, bullying, alcoholism, loss of friendship, and the death of loved ones. Arnold finds himself caught between two worlds—the white world and the Indian world. He struggles with his identity as he wades back and forth between these two worlds. However, Arnold always maintains his hope, his sense of humor, and his love for his family and his friends.

I highly recommend this book for Young Adults. Sherman Alexie tackles serious subjects with a sense of humor, but the humor does not negate the seriousness of the issues of death, poverty, alcoholism, and racism that Arnold Spirit, Jr. faces in this novel; it just lessens the sting a bit. Alexie’s dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny at times, and his character Arnold is unique and dynamic. Alexie does not organize the book by traditional chapters, but he organizes the plot in vignettes with titles such as “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me” (p. 7) and “Because Geometry Is not a Country Somewhere Near France” (p. 25). Another bonus to the book is the comic sketches interspersed throughout the text by artist Ellen Forney. These illustrations pair perfectly with the text and support Sherman Alexie’s storyline. This book can be used in independent reading for students, but probably would not suit a whole class study due to first, the graphic nature of some of the text, like when Arnold boasts about being ambidextrous at masturbation (pp. 24-25); and second, due to a lack of political correctness assumed by the character of Arnold; there is the potential for censors to come out of the closet on this book. However, I say that the latter two features add to the novel's charm. Do not miss reading this book!

Extras

This book is ...

• A New York Times Bestseller
• A National Book Award Winner
• #1 Book Sense Bestseller
• Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
• A Nappa Gold Book
• School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• Kirkus Reviews Best YA Books of 2007
• A BBYA Top 10 Book for Teens

Hornbook Magazine (Jan./Feb. 2009), Vol. 85 book review excerpt: Arnold Spirit, Jr.’s (aka Junior’s) “experiences leave us gasping in pain, lauging out loud and feeling our hearts break. Told in a wise/wisecracking first-person voice, Alexie’s novel presents an unforgettable character, ready to take on the world. We as readers are pulling for him to succeed” (p. 25).

Book Cover Art found at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Absolutely-True-Diary-Part-Time-Indian/dp/0316013692/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285037532&sr=1-1

Module 1: Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

Daly, Maureen. 1942. Seventeenth summer. New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN-13 978-0-617-61931-2

Angeline Morrow on her relationship with Jack Duluth—“…it wasn’t puppy love or infatuation or love at first sight or anything that people always talk about and laugh. Maybe you don’t know just what I mean. I can’t really explain it—it’s so hard to put in words but—well, it was just something I’d never felt before. Something I’d never even known. People can’t tell you about things like that, you have to find them out for yourself. That’s why it is so important. It was something I’ll always remember because I just couldn’t’ forget—it’s a thing like that” (Daly 1942, p. 3).

The book Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly tells the story of first love and spans the course of a Wisconsin summer. Upon high school graduation, Angie Morrow, a seventeen year old, encounter each other in McKnight’s drugstore. When Jack, who works in a baker, drives by Angie’s house to see if her mother needs any bread, he takes the chance to ask Angie out. As the summer progresses, Angie and Jack’s relationship deepens. The question is what will become of Angie and Jack’s love when summer ends?

Though written in the 1940s, Maureen Daly so superbly captures the universal experience of first love that anyone from any time period would be able to connect with this story. Some of the language and customs described in the book are quaint (like applying vinegar compresses to alleviate a migraine headache), but it is a testament to Daly’s skills as a writer that the reader hardly notices the time period. Daly also cleverly organizes the novel by dividing it into three sections: June, July, and August. There are not traditional chapters within each section. Instead, Daly uses page breaks to indicate a change of scene. This romance novel is not shallow and does not condescend to the Young Adult reader. Instead, Daly perfectly captures the excitement, nervousness, confusion, turmoil, fear, and joy that a young, first love can engender. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy realistic fiction and romance novels. This book would work well for independent reading and could be used in a literature circle when studying coming-of-age and rites-of-passage novels.

Extras

One interesting fact to know about Seventeenth Summer is that it is considered by many to be the “first YA novel” (Cart 2008, p. 46). Renowned YA literature critic, Michael Cart gives this novel credit for being “pioneering” and leaving footprints for writers such as Janet Lambert, Betty Cavanna, and Rosamund Du Jardin to follow in (2008, p. 46). Also, Booklists June 1995, Volume 91 issue features Seventeenth Summer in the article “Groundbreakers: 25 Books that Span the Decades.”

References

Cart, Michael. 2008. The object(s) of their affection. Booklist 105, no. 2 (September): 46. Academic Search Complete. [accessed September 19, 2010].

Book cover art found at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B002TXFDO4/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_3?ie=UTF8&index=3