Front Desk By Kelly Yang

 

        

       Hi! I recently reread one of my favorite books in middle school, Front Desk. It is a pretty simple read, but a very fun book and I highly recommend! (contains minor spoilers) Front Desk illustrates the life of Mia Tang, a ten year old Chinese girl who recently moved to America. She moves with her parents, leaving the rest of her family, including her cousin and best friend Shen, behind in China. Mia and her parents are shocked by how different America is than they had imagined. Mia’s parents, who were both engineers in China, have to work long hours as waiters for little pay. After some months of struggle, Mia decides to help her parents out in the restaurant they both work at. Unfortunately, her plan does not go well and her mom is fired. As her mom scours newspapers for a new job, she finds what she thinks is a great bargain, a job as a hotel manager with high pay and free rent. The family meets Mr. Yao, the owner of the motel, and he hires them on the spot. They are all overjoyed, especially Mia, because she thinks of this as a way to redeem herself for getting her mom fired. Mia decides to work at the front desk, checking guests in and out, which she loves. Her parents also are liking the job, despite how much work it is to run the hotel. However, it all starts to go down hill when they realize how mean of an employer Mr. Yao is when he cuts their salary and makes them pay when anything breaks or doesn’t work. Mia also gets bullied at school by Mr. Yao’s son Jason, who makes fun of her for working at the motel. Through school Mia meets her best friend Lupe and discovers her love of writing. She enjoys writing about her experiences and the experiences of others around her. Her mom does not approve of Mia writing for fun because she thinks Mia should be working on math. She thinks that Mia could never be as good as the other kids at writing because English is Mia’s second language. Her mother’s opinion of her writing hurts Mia’s feelings, but she doesn’t give up, and even when she receives a bad grade on her first writing assignment, she still doesn’t stop. Mia learns to use her writing to do good deeds by writing letters. Her letters help others by allowing her friend Hank to find a job, serving justice to her parent’s friend’s unfair employer, and even eventually helping her own family in the face of a dire circumstance.

Clara