Front Desk

De: Kelly Yang

Narrado por: Sunny Lu

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature!

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number one: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, 10-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number two: 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 three: 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?

©2018 Kelly Yang (P)2018 Listening Library

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

Wonderfully inclusive story

This story is semi-autobiographical. It’s about a Chinese family that comes to America with very little money. They struggle to make a living running a motel. The characters are very realistic in their struggles and are very relatable. There are themes of poverty, diversity, and resilience. My favorite aspect of the book is in the main character’s struggle to fit in with her peers while already working at the motel and while being very poor. It takes a lot of resilience and wits to overcome her circumstances and she has a lot of both. This is a great book for 3rd-5th graders. There is a lot to be learned from the main character’s strength of character.

Thank you Kelly Yang

I just love your book and I want to say that this book is my favorite and it was a great one. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great book to read.

This book is amazing I love this book

LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!! It is so much fun and scary but that makes it even better

Good book!

Very funny girl with her gentle family! I enjoyed listen to it! not only for children.

Amazing but can be sad and scary

Amazing but there are some scary and sad parts and a little romance seen but overall it was amazing

Based on real events

Front Desk is a middle grade book about a 10 year old Chinese immigrant named Mia. Even though this is a kids book, I, in my late 30s, enjoyed it quite a bit.

This is book 1 of a series. Book 2 is already released, but book 3 shows to be released in September of 2021. I will read the next book. I'm curious what is next for Mia and her family.

This book tackles some difficult topics such as racism, poverty, bullying, and abuse of power, but it does so in a way that makes it easier for younger audiences to understand. This has morals in it, but they are conveyed in a non preachy way.

At the end of the book, we learn that a lot of this story comes from actual experiences of the author. That is really powerful to know and makes it more relatable for the reader.

The narrator did a great job! She was very believable as the 10 year old main character and her other voices were good too.

Not for Christians

This book is a great read I like the storyline I like Mia tang she is kind and selfless she tries to get her parents but there is the words hell in the book so if you believe in God and don’t like those words or have children under the age of 9 this book is not for you but overall I like this book and all lives matter 🤜🏿🤛🏻🤜🏾🤛🏽🤜🏽🤛🏼

Conversation starter!

My 2nd grader and I enjoyed this book immensely. It brings up many different issues such as poverty, racism, and worker exploitation in a way that provided the starting point of difficult conversations. My daughter asked for it play every time we got into the car.
warning: it does expose the tooth fairy!

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Great kids book

The narrator did a fabulous job. Great voice to truly feel like a kid but very clear, easy to follow, and fun to listen to. Love the fact that this story was based in part on actual events of the author. Something all young kids should read to help understand the struggles of immigrants and minorities. As well as the struggle between parents and children, and the differences in American children and Chinese children.