Front Desk

Yang, K. (2018). Front desk. Arthur A. Levine Books.

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction

    Mia and her parents are Chinese immigrants who have come to America for a better life. When they are given the opportunity to manage the Calvista Motel, owned by Michael Yao, they jump at the opportunity. Quickly, this dream becomes a nightmare. Any damage to the motel comes out of their already meager paycheck, the family gets no sleep as someone has to be ready at the desk at all times, and sometimes they're attacked by people with bad intentions. Throughout the book, Mia wants to become a writer. Her main goal is to win a writing competition so she and her family can win a motel of their own in Vermont. Although that doesn't pan out, her writing skills help her and members of her community find jobs, obtain passports illegally stolen from them, and raise enough money so her family can buy the motel from Mr. Yao. 

    Class structure and race are discussed in this book. Throughout the book, Mia is told that her English isn't good enough, even by her own mother, and she is sometimes mocked for her Chinese origin. Racism is also displayed in the character Hank. Hank is a Black man and he faces discrimination from police who are convinced he stole a car from a motel patron; this later costs him his job as police start to interrogate him there as well. In her author's note, Kelly Yang says she based this book on her own experiences as a Chinese immigrant whose family owned a motel.  Many of the events present in the book have personally happened to her and her family