Front Desk

Every time I set this book down to go do something else, it magically reappeared in my hand, so you see I had to sit down and read it all in one go.

Mia Tang and her parents moved to America for a better life, only to end up stuck with the short end of the stick. In the search for a new job, they become the managers of a small motel owned by Mr. Yao with the promise of $150 a day and free rent. (That’s about $259 in 2018 money. We’re in the 90s right now.)

Oh, wait. Mr. Yao is a greedy jerk who squeezes people for every penny he can get. And he abruptly changes the terms of the contract to essentially “free rent plus whatever I feel like paying you”. Did I mention his son Jason is going to the same school that Mia will attend? Yeah, his son’s not that much better.

So far, this whole “America” thing is turning out to be a big disappointment for Mia. She lies to impress her new friend, Lupe, but it turns out Lupe’s family is in a similar situation. (But hey, new best friend! :D)

Mia is determined to help her family get out of this hole. When she learns of an essay contest to win a motel in Vermont, she plans to enter it. But where will she get the money for the entry fee? She’d ask her parents, but her mother thinks she should stick to math because Mia’s English isn’t as good as a native speaker’s.

And on top of all this, Mia’s family has begun hiding immigrants who need a place to stay for a day or two.

I absolutely loved this book. It has plenty of lighthearted moments balanced against the harsh realities of being an immigrant in America. We see Mia staring down customers until they accept that she’s the one running the front desk, and Mia and her dad washing towels in the bathtub. A cranky guest straightens up once he realizes he’s yelling at a 10-year old.

On the darker side of things, a guest’s car is stolen and Mr. Yao immediately suspects every black person at the hotel, even going to far as to have the police question Hank (one of the regulars) and getting him fired. The immigrants who stay with them have stories to tell about racism and loan sharks and getting their passports stolen by unscrupulous employers, forcing them to work in slave-like conditions. It’s a very eye-opening look at what actual immigrants have to deal with in order to come to this country.

Mia fights back in her own way- through writing. With nothing but her own determination and a borrowed thesaurus, she writes letters to customers, employers, and other businesses. She will stand up for what’s right.

I want a copy of this for our school’s library. I think a lot of my students can relate to Mia, whether they’re immigrants themselves or whether their families are just stuck in the poverty cycle. (and sadly, we do have a lot of kids stuck in that cycle) Even the kids who aren’t would benefit from reading this, as it can give them an idea of what their peers might be going through, and encourage them to be more understanding.