A Step From Heaven by An Na

1. Bibliography
Na, An. 2001. A Step from Heaven. Asheville, N. C.: Front Street. ISBN 978188690584

2. Plot Summary
The story of Young Ju and her family begins when she is four and her family is preparing to move to “Mi Gook”, America, from Korea. Young Ju believes that she is going to heaven where she will see her grandfather but is disappointed to learn that America is not heaven. Her American uncle tells her “Mi Gook is almost as good as heaven. Let us say it is a step from heaven.” Young Ju adjusts to school and a little brother as well as the rules, the words and the accents of a new country. Her parents work multiple jobs in order to fulfill their dreams of owning their own home and living the American dream. The pressure on her father pushes him to drinking and physical abuse of Young Ju and her mother. The abuse escalates to the point where Young Ju must call the police to save her mother’s life. After being released from jail, her father returns to Korea leaving the rest of the family to go on as best they can without him. The story end with Young Ju preparing to leave for college while her mother and brother move into a small house all their own.

3. Critical Analysis
An Na’s tale of poverty, acculturation and abuse is told in first-person present-tense narration. Na uses brief sections that are more like titled anecdotes than chapters. Her inclusion of Korean terms requires the reader to employ the use context clues and possibly some rereading at the beginning but they then become almost unnoticed as the story continues. She also allows the reader to experience what it is like to be in a new situation and not being able to understand what is being said, like when Young Ju first arrived at school (“Tees es Yung,” the witch teacher says. “Wah ko um, Yung,” they say.) Through Young Ju’s narratives the reader discovers each character. Her father Apa grows increasingly violent and defensive as he drinks more. Her mother Uhmma tries to make the best of their situation and works hard to keep the family together. Her brother Joon is the long awaited boy who is allowed to do things that would be considered unacceptable for a girl to do (“Young Ju, Apa says, shaking his head. Joon Ho is a boy. It is natural for him to pee outside.”) The ongoing coming-of-age theme is intertwined with Young Ju’s struggle of not becoming too American as her parents fear and being ashamed of her family’s situation. But Young Ju is portrayed as an intelligent girl who continues to thrive despite her situation. She receives moral support to succeed from her mother (“I am proud of you, Young Ju, Uhmma says, looking down into my eyes. You are a smart girl and someday you will be a smart woman.”) And as the story ends, the reader sees her connect with her mother and fully understand where they have come from.

4. Review Excerpts and Awards
Starred review in Booklist: “As in the best writing, the particulars make the story universal.”
Starred review in Publishers Weekly: “Equally bright are the prospects of this author; readers will eagerly await her next step.”
Starred review in School Library Journal: “A beautifully written, affecting work.”
Review in Horn Book: “Each of these vignettes displays an astonishing and memorable force.”
Review in VOYA: “This beautifully written book, a tale of both tragedy and eventual triumph, is likely to bring tears to the eyes of any reader.”
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
ALA Notable Children’s Books
Michael L. Printz Award

5. Connections
· Discuss questions raised by immigration. What would make a family or an individual leave their homeland and seek a new life in another country? What kinds of problems could an immigrant face building a new life? What are some of the problems faced by the Park family?
· Read the interview with An Na by Cynthia Leitich Smith at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/authors/interviews/AnNa.html.
· Other Korean American fiction titles:
Czech, Jan M. An American Face. ISBN 9780878678183
Lee, Marie G. Finding My Voice. ISBN 9780395621349
Recorvits, Helen. My Name is Yoon. ISBN 9780374351144
Shin, Sun Yung. Cooper’s Lesson. ISBN 9780892391936
Son, John. Finding My Hat. ISBN 9780439435383

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

1. Bibliography
Patron, Susan. 2006. The Higher Power of Lucky. Ill. by Matt Phelan. New York: Antheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 97814169091945

2. Plot Summary
Ten-year-old Lucky Trimble lives with her guardian and her beloved dog in Hard Pan, California (population 43) and dreams of becoming a world famous scientist one day. Lucky’s mother was electrocuted by stepping on a downed power line; her father sent for his first wife who lives in France to take care of Lucky until she can be placed in a foster home two years ago. Lucky eavesdrops on the twelve-step meetings that she cleans up after and hears the members talk about finding their higher power. She hopes that someday she can find her higher power and have some control over her life. Lucky is concerned that Brigitte wants to return to France and she will have to go to an orphanage and become a ward of the state. Lucky’s concern leads her to run away hoping to cause worry, sadness, and a change in Brigitte’s heart (“Lucky liked the idea that by running away she could make people do things they wouldn’t do otherwise.”). She runs away during a desert dust storm and when the air finally clears, so does the haze of Lucky’s uncertainty.

3. Critical Analysis
Patron’s novel is bases on a memorable cast of characters and a distinctive sense of place. Lucky is a multidimensional character exhibiting moments of meanness and big-heartedness. Her predicament is gripping. Many readers will identify with her feeling that some times she “wanted to change everything, all the bad things that had happened, and some times she wanted everything to stay the same forever.” Patron reveals Brigitte through interactions with Lucky and her flashbacks. Brigitte left France with “her own French life going along, full of plans, and her old French mother” when Lucky’s father called. She has stayed for two years and has made plans to legally adopt Lucky and open her own restaurant in Hard Pan. Two minor characters that appear frequently throughout the story are Lucky’s best friend, Lincoln, who has an obsession with tying knots and challenges her to see things in a new light and five-year-old Miles who is a tiresome pest to Lucky. The plot is revealed as Lucky goes through a typical day in her small town. Details of the past are provided in Lucky’s thoughts and memories. Patron’s style of revealing the story in parts maintains the interest of the reader. The small, subtle illustrations compliment the plot well.

4. Review Excerpts and Award
Starred review in Kirkus: “Readers will gladly give themselves over to Patron, a master of light but sure characterization and closely observed detail. A small gem.”
Review in Booklist: “Lucky is a true heroine, especially because she’s not perfect: she does some cowardly things, but she takes pains to put them to rights.”
Review in Horn Book: “Patron’s episodic tale of a grieving insecure little girl is never heavy-handed or maudlin, due in part to quiet bursts of humor.”
Review in School Library Journal
John Newberry Medal Winner

5. Connections
· Discuss what things students would include in their survival-kit backpacks and why.
· Research different types of knots. Which ones would be easy for a beginner? How many can you successfully make?
· Other titles by Susan Patron:
Five Bad Boys, Billy Que, and the Dustdobbin. ISBN 9780531059890
Bobbin Dustbobbin. ISBN 9780531054680
Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe. ISBN 9780531054826
Burgoo Stew. ISBN 9780531059166
Dark Cloud Strong Breeze. ISBN 9780531068151

The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

1. Bibliography
Black, Holly and Tony DiTerlizzi. 2003. The Field Guide. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689859366

2. Plot Summary
Nine-year-old twins, Jared and Simon, their thirteen-year-old sister Mallory and their mom move into great-aunt Lucinda’s rundown Victorian house after their father leaves them. The children begin hearing strange noises in the walls immediately and find and destroy a nest in the wall. The children find a secret room, an old book, Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, which turns out to be a guide to faeries and eventually, a little brownie named Thimbletack who is about the size of a pencil and talks in rhyme. Strange things happen to Mallory and Simon at night after they destroy Thimbletack’s nest. Jared is blamed for tying Mallory’s hair to the headboard and freezing Simon’s tadpoles. The children appease the brownie by building him a new home. As the book ends, he warns the children that keeping the field guide will result in harm.

3. Critical Analysis
The first book in this series is written in short paragraphs in a smooth, approachable style with each chapter ending with suspense. Though this book does not contain much of the story’s plot, it introduces the characters and the story to follow and ends leaving the reader wanting to read the sequel. The characters are well established in this volume and so is their family dynamic. Jared has been labeled as a troublemaker (“She thinks you’ve been acting weird ever since Dad left. Like getting into all those fights at school.”) while Simon is an animal lover who brought with him fish, mice, and lizards among other animals. Mallory’s main focus is fencing and is very competitive, and their mother Helen is appreciative to have somewhere to live (“If your great-aunt Lucinda hadn’t let us stay, I don’t know where we would have gone. We should be grateful.”). Black uses detailed descriptions to help the reader visualize the happenings in the story (“Taking a breath, Jared pushed up the lid. It was full of very old, moth-eaten clothes. Underneath, there was a pocket watch on a long chain, a tattered cap, and a leather satchel full of old, odd-looking pencils and cracked bits of charcoal.”) The black-and-white in depth illustrations that appear on almost every two page spread compliment the text while bringing the strange world the Spiderwick Estate alive. A table of contents, a list of “full-page” illustrations, a map of the Spiderwick Estate, and an introductory letter from the authors as well as a copy of the original letter to Mrs. Black and Mr. DiTerlizzi from the Grace children can be found at the beginning of the text.

4. Review Excerpts and Award
Starred review in Kirkus: “Readers who are too young to read Harry Potter independently will find these have just the right amount of menace laced with appealing humor and are blessed with crisp pacing and, of course, DiTerlizzi’s enticingly Gothic illustrations.”
Starred review in Publishers Weekly: “Appealing characters, well-measured suspense and an inviting package will lure readers on to The Seeing Stone...Youngsters may well find themselves glancing over their shoulders as they eagerly follow the events.”
Review in VOYA: “Nearly every second page is embellished with the ink drawings of DiTerlizzi, evoking a delicious classical sense in this modern fantasy. Black...keeps the dialogue snappy and the children’s personalities distinct.”
Review in Horn Book: “The individual books do not stand alone and the first mostly sets the stage, but the writing is fast paced and action-packed. Retro black-and-white spot art adds atmosphere.”
Review in School Library Journal
International Reading Association’s Children’s Choices

5. Connections
· Create your own brownie. Write a description of his/her personality including likes and dislikes. Be sure to include an illustration.
· Take the trivia quiz over the Spiderwick Chronicles at www.kidsreads.com/funstuff/trivia/spiderwick-triv.asp.
· Subsequent titles in this series:
The Seeing Stone. ISBN 9780689859373
Lucinda’s Secret. ISBN 9780689859380
The Ironwood Tree. ISBN 9780689859397
The Wrath of Mulgarath. ISBN 9780689859403