What is the main conflict in A Step from Heaven by An Na?

A Step from Heaven by An Na is the story of a young immigrant's life from childhood to adulthood told in snapshots. Each chapter is a small scene of Young Ju's life that helps to shape the woman she becomes. The novel begins with Young Ju as a baby playing in the ocean with her parents. Her father, Apa, drinks heavily. He alternates between abusive and neglectful. Young Ju's mother, Uhmma, dreams of the opportunities she believes her family would have in America, so she convinces Apa to write to his sister who lives in the United States. Apa's sister, Gomo, helps the family immigrate to America. Young Ju is so impressed with her parent's talk of America, Mi Gook, that she confuses it with her grandmother's descriptions of Heaven. They must travel in a plane from Korea to American, in the sky, her mother tells her. In the sky is where her grandmother has told her Heaven is located.