Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Series: Front Desk, #1
# of Pages: 298
Publication: May 29th, 2018
Source: Library Audiobook
Narrator: Sunny Lu
Length: 6 hours and 30 minutes
Amazon | Goodreads | Audible 

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?

Front Desk is a book that I nor the world knew they needed. Phenomenal is not even the word that could begin to describe how amazing I found this book. It centers around a young girl by the name of Mia Tang who lives in a hotel with her immigrant parents. This book includes discussions around immigration, racism, discrimination, friendship, preconceived notion. Honestly, the list could go on and on. It amazed me that a book written for a middle grade audience could easily capture and maintain my attention for the entirety of the novel. 

"Never forget how much rice you eat" -- A Chinese Saying 

While I usually focus heavily on character development in my reviews, this book requires me to look more so at the societal issues that it addresses. The first theme that Yang explores is heavily related to immigration and how it can be both difficult and rewarding to identify as an immigrant. Mia and her family have a hard time because they are an immigrant family from China with little to no support from family back at home. In running the hotel they hope to have the opportunity to become somewhat successful in America; however, the racist and prejudice Mr. Yao makes it extremely difficult for them to succeed. They end up doing what they know and think is best to keep their head above water. In addition to dealing with Yao at work, Mia faces a lot of discrimination from the kids at school. Because her family does not make as much money as the other families, Mia is forced to wear second hand clothing and continuously struggles with her family's inability to even provide her with a pair of jeans. It never seized to amaze me that Yang was capable of consistently showing how much people can and often take for granted.

"It's like she buys her clothes by the pound." 

A second theme that I found prevalent in this book was the theme of assumptions and stereotypes. It is often assumed in the book that Mia should be smart because she's Chinese or that she can't be a good writer because English is her second language. Yang even goes as far to bring in the misconception that all black people are violent and dangerous. One of the main characters is assumed to have committed a crime just because they identify as black. It was these passages that were the most difficult to listen to, but also resonated as the most important because these are issues that we face in our country on a daily basis. I have never read a middle grade book that successfully touches on the current climate of a nation as it pertains to race and immigration.

"Yes we go the Chinese girl...you're Chinese you're supposed to be good at math."

Even though the novel did bring to light some of the negative aspects and ways in which people treat immigrants and others of different a race or ethnicity, Yang did provide beautiful and clear insight to what it means to have good friends and community. It was beautiful to watch Mia's friendship blossom with Lupe and how they were both determined to "make it off the roller coaster." It was also rewarding to see how the small community of immigrants and those who lived at the hotel were willing to help each other out in their time of need. There was even a moment where someone outside the community strives to assist the Tang family with some financial matters.

"Thank you for not charging my mom all that money. Thank you for showing us it's not just every man for himself in America." 

Overall, I thought that this book was AMAZING. While I didn't delve into character development, I thought that the characters, the plot, and the author's intention behind the story made it such a timeless book. The narrator did an excellent job capturing the voices of all of the characters. There were points in the story that I forgot that there was just one narrator which is always a good thing. If you're looking for an important and amazing read definitely check this one out!