Front Desk

A fiction book written by Kelly Yang about an eight-year-old named Mia Tang who helps her parents run a motel. Mia is from China and is used to working with little play. Often, she gets asked why she is not out playing, but Mia dismisses this question because it’s normal for children in China to work all the time. The owner of the hotel Mr. Yao is not accepting of African Americans and blames Hank, a frequent to the hotel, for stealing a car. Mia ends up proving Hank’s innocence, but sadly he loses his job anyway. Equally, Mia sees the way other are treated unfairly like forced slavery upon recent immigrants. Sadly, Mr. Yao decides to sell the motel, but Mia and her parents figure out a way to buy it. This is a superb book for explaining the harsh realities of the immigrant experience and other minorities. Teachers can use this book to teach social justice lessons that will resonate in communities around the world.

Yang, K. (2018). Front Desk. Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Inc.