Na, An 1972–

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Na, An 1972–

PERSONAL:

Born July 17, 1972, in South Korea; married. Ethnicity: "Korean." Education: Amherst College, B.A., 1994; Vermont College, M.F.A., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—VT. Agent—Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House, 21 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Previously taught English and history in middle school.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults, National Book Award finalist, International Reading Society Children's Book Award in Young Adult Fiction, Riverbank Review Children's Books of Distinction award, Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award, all 2002, all for A Step from Heaven.

WRITINGS:

A Step from Heaven (young adult novel), Front Street (Asheville, NC), 2001.

Wait for Me, G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

An Na is the author of A Step from Heaven, a novel—aimed at teen readers—recounting the experiences of a Korean immigrant growing up in California. The novel's heroine, Young Ju, arrives in America when she is only four years old. But in the ensuing years, to her parents' consternation, she becomes increasingly adapted to Western ways, and after an initial stage of awkwardness, she develops, to her parents' greater satisfaction, into an adept student. As Young Ju adapts to life in America, however, her father, a laborer mourning his mother's death, succumbs to alcoholism, and he eventually returns to South Korea. The heroine, meanwhile, realizes academic honors and prepares to enter college.

Upon publication in 2001, A Step from Heaven won acclaim as a compelling and impressive literary debut. Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman proclaimed Na's novel "a beautiful coming-of-age drama," and she affirmed that it will "grab teens and make them think of their own conflicts between home and outside." Another reviewer, Diane S. Marton, wrote in School Library Journal that A Step from Heaven is "a beautifully written, affecting work," and a Publishers Weekly contributor hailed Na's novel as "mesmerizing." Sally Lodge, meanwhile, acknowledged the novel, in another Publishers Weekly article, as "absorbing," and Susan Chira, in her New York Times Book Review assessment, deemed the tale "engaging." Further praise came from Jade reviewer Irene Kim, who called A Step from Heaven "a mature book that adeptly captures the heartache of a child."

The author's next young adult novel, Wait for Me, was called "gripping and engrossing" by a Kirkus Reviews contributor. The author once again writes about a Korean-American immigrant family. Narrated by seventeen-year-old Mina, a Korean-American facing strong pressure from her parents to succeed academically, the story reveals how Mina had been deceiving her parents. Nina has been taking money from their dry cleaning business and stashing it away so she can get an apartment, all the while pretending that she is going to follow her mother's wishes and attend Harvard when she graduates from high school. Alternating chapters focus on Mina's little sister, Suna, who is hearing impaired and not expected to achieve like Mina but feels the pain of being "second" in her mother's attention and devotion. Meanwhile, Mina finds herself falling in love with the Mexican immigrant Ysrael, leading to a romance that is akin to that of Romeo and Juliet, which ultimately forces Mina to face up to her real self.

Claire Rosser, writing in Kliatt, referred to the story of a Korean family that places all its hopes for its future on its children as "poignant," adding in the same review that the author is "a skillful, dramatic writer who brings the family agony into clarity, building suspense throughout." School Library Journal contributor Kathleen Isaacs wrote: "Accessible and wonderfully discussable, this story of family secrets and family love is a worthy successor to Na's A Step from Heaven."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of A Step from Heaven, p. 1881; November 15, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of A Step from Heaven, p. 567; March 15, 2002, Stephanie Zvirin, "Book Award Bonanza," p. 1259; March 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Wait for Me, p. 46.

Book World, July 9, 2006, Elizabeth Ward, review of Wait for Me, p. 11.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 2006, Cindy Welch, review of Wait for Me, p. 464.

Horn Book Magazine, July 1, 2006, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Wait for Me, p. 433.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2006, review of Wait for Me, p. 513.

Kliatt, May, 2006, Claire Rosser, review of Wait for Me, p. 12.

Library Media Connection, January, 2007, Paulette Goodman, review of Wait for Me, p. 74.

New York Times Book Review, May 20, 2001, Susan Chira, review of A Step from Heaven, p. 22.

Publishers Weekly, April 2, 2001, review of A Step from Heaven, p. 65; June 25, 2001, Sally Lodge, "Flying Starts," p. 23; June 19, 2006, review of Wait for Me, p. 64.

School Library Journal, May, 2001, Diane S. Marton, review of A Step from Heaven, p. 156; July, 2006, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Wait for Me, p. 109.