Front Desk (Front Desk #1)
Kelly Yang
Arthur A. Levine Books
Published May 29, 2018
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Front Desk
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.
Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.
Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.
Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?
It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?
My Review
I am amazed at how much Kelly Yang successfully weaves into this short novel. It’s under 300 pages, and the plot moves along at a reasonable pace. I felt like I got to know some of the motel residents, Mia’s family, and her friends from school.
During the story, Mia begins writing letters. She writes to someone’s potential employer. She writes to an employer who has been abusing his workers, demanding that he give back the passport and ID card to the worker. Her letters make a difference, even while Mia’s mom keeps reminding her that she wasn’t born in America, and that she’ll never speak “native English,” like the people who were. Mia’s letters prove that her voice matters, and her words have power, despite the other messages in her life.
Mia is also a first-class community builder. She connects with the motel residents, those there for a short while and those who stay much longer. She reaches out to the other business owners around the motel. Soon the Calivista is known up and down the coast.
Some parts of the book are sad. Her parents’ employer is cruel and takes advantage of them. Kids at school make fun of her for her clothes and her identity. She witnesses racial prejudice against a Black man who lives at the motel. Someone attacks another person, leaving them injured and bleeding. Mia is the first to find and help them.
But those sad moments only make Mia’s triumphs more impactful. They show the depth of her spirit and the strength of her heart. By the end of the book, I was cheering for her and her family. I definitely want to read more of this series.
One of the amazing things about the series is that the author drew inspiration for Mia’s story from her own experiences helping manage a motel with her parents when she was Mia’s age. This explains the story’s 1990s setting, too.
This is a great fit for readers looking for pre-2000s novels, especially middle grade books on the shorter side.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Two instances of mild profanity. A few instances of racist comments.
Romance/Sexual Content
None.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
A drunk man scares Mia. One scene shows someone who has been attacked by two people. (The attack happens off scene.) References to threats from loan sharks.
Drug Content
A drunk man scares Mia. He’s quickly dealt with.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.
I love Front Desk and the other books in this series. And Kelly Yang is such an inspiring person. I learned more about her from her author notes at the end of her other books. She’s one of my favorite authors.