Episodic, Interior
Episodic
You know how in your typical novel the chapters actually link together chronologically to tell a whole story? Well that isn't exactly how it works in A Step From Heaven. While the chapters do more or less move chronologically, they don't necessarily link directly to each other and the amount of time they each cover is kind of difficult to figure out.
Let's look at Chapter 29—"Seeds of Life"—for example. This is the chapter in which Uhmma says a major mea culpa to Young Ju for giving her the silent treatment over Apa, and ends with Uhmma telling Young Ju that "You are my strong girl" (29.32). The next chapter doesn't pick up here, though—nope, it begins in a whole other house, who knows how long after Apa has left the family. All we know is that Young Ju—all of a sudden—is about to head off to college, right after the family has (finally) moved into a new house.
Sure the two chapters link together thematically—Young Ju's a "strong girl" at the end of one chapter, and the next chapter just provides more proof of her strength since she's about to go off to college—but we can forget about knowing exactly when these chapters take place in relation to each other.
That's important, though, because this episodic style gives the whole book the feeling that we're looking at snapshots of the family growing up in America. It also allows the book to cover a huge time span (Young Ju's a toddler when we first meet her, but she's about to be a college student at the end) without turning Young Ju's story into a thousand-page tome.
Interior
Okay—to be clear, we don't mean that this book is like an episode of some interior-design show. We simply mean that the book—due to Young Ju's first-person narration—keeps us deep inside Young Ju's mind. So, you know, grab a chair and get comfortable because we're going to be hanging in here for a while. In the end, though, this technique positions us to know Young Ju in a way that only Young Ju knows herself—and we know more about her than even her BFF Amanda does.
Take this scene between Apa and Young Ju:
Just drink it, Young Ju, Apa growls. I put the cup to my mouth and take a small taste. Ahya! It hurts. This drink bites the inside of my mouth and throat like swallowing tiny fish bones. This is what Mi Gook people love? I want to push the drink away, but I cannot show bad manners. Good girl, Young Ju. Drink that up and you can have more, Apa says. He pats my head. (7.33-34)
By keeping us inside Young Ju's headspace, the author lets us understand both Young Ju's distaste for Coke and the pressure she feels to fake her pleasure so that she can be a "good girl." That's the kind of writing that keeps Young Ju real for her readers. (After all, who hasn't had to fake a reaction just to play nice?)