Review of "Front Desk" by Kelly Yang

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Summary

    Front Desk is a story about a 10-year-old girl named Mia Tang, whose family moved from China to Anaheim, California. They did so thinking that America would be an amazing place where they could prosper and live carefree. Hardly any of this turns out to be true. Her parents are very poor and struggle finding jobs, until they learn about a local motel that is in need of employees. The motel is called The Calivista and is owned by a wealthy man named Mr. Yao. Her parents manage to get the jobs and can live in the motel, but Mr. Yao is a very mean and greedy man who makes them work hard and pays them little. Mia goes to 5th grade at the local elementary school, but from the moment the principal lays eyes on her she can tell she is not welcome. Her fellow classmates judge her for her cheap clothing, and among these is Jason Yao, Mr. Yao's son. Mia and Jason soon become enemies. 

    As time goes on, Mia and her parents meet several of the motel's "weeklies," the people who live there. They are all very friendly and Mia becomes good friends with them, especially with a black man named Hank. They tell Mia many stories about the struggles they've experienced living in America. She also becomes eager to help her parents, as their job is very labor-intensive, so she manages the front desk from time to time. She meets many more people through managing the front desk, and becomes much more independent. At school, she makes friends with a girl named Guadalupe, or Lupe for short, who comes from another immigrant family that is having similar struggles. At first, she and Lupe both pretend to come from normal, wealthy American families, but they both can't hide it for long and end up learning the truth about each other. What's interesting is that having lied to each other and gotten caught for it only reinforces their friendship. 

    Back at the motel, things are getting worse and worse with Mr. Yao treating Mia's parents very badly. Mia gets very angry at Mr. Yao, who keeps so much of the motel's profits for himself, and her parents start having plenty of arguments. They realize that keep the jobs is their only choice, but Mia can tell her parents are growing more and more exasperated. One day a man named Uncle Ming, a fellow Chinese immigrant who is struggling financially, comes to the motel. He tells her parents his story and how he got into trouble with some loan sharks that he borrowed money from. Her parents agree to hide him in the motel. Word then spreads among other local Chinese immigrants that Mia's family is giving them shelter in their motel, and they soon start helping many more people. Mia hears plenty more stories and learns about all the problems in society, like racism, homelessness, bankruptcy, and other struggles her fellow immigrants have gone through. The story goes on like this for a bit, broken up occasionally by scenes of Mia talking to the weeklies, having conflicts at school, and talking with Lupe.

    In the final part of the story, Mia secretly enters an essay writing competition held by a family from across the country that is trying to get rid of their motel. The writer of the best essay will be awarded with the motel. Mia enters this competition with an essay she feels extremely strong about, without her parents knowing a thing. Will she be able to win, get her very own motel, and guarantee stability for her family's financial future? Read the book to find out (I promise, it doesn't end how you'd expect).

Review

    I really enjoyed every moment I spent reading this book. There are so many plot twists and humorous as well as overwhelmingly sad and happy scenes. It is based on a true story about the author, Kelly Yang, and her childhood where her poor immigrant family worked at several motels as she grew up. It's not the kind of book where every challenge that is faced ends up being won, as many times Mia and her family inevitably fail to get what they want in their lives. It is indeed sad at many points, but these are made up for by the uplifting scenes in which Mia, her family, and the weeklies finally get something the way they want it. The characters come in a wide variety, from the impoverished immigrants and weeklies to Mia's impudent teachers and classmates, to the annoyingly wealthy and egocentric Mr. Yao and his son. I can't lie, whenever Mia and her family can win an argument against Mr. Yao and he gets upset, it is incredibly satisfying. I think the plot of the story is pretty much perfect since it is unpredictable, suspenseful, and amazingly uplifting near the end. With all this in mind, Front Desk by Kelly Yang undoubtedly deserves the Book Bagel™'s 5-star rating.

 

-Rico