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Front Desk (Front Desk #1) (Scholastic Gold) Paperback – June 25, 2019

by Kelly Yang (Author)

4.8 5,117 ratings

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Four starred reviews and over ten best-of-year lists!* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Winner of the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature!* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewMia 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?Featuring exclusive bonus content!

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Popular Highlights in this book

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“We’re immigrants,” she said. “Our lives are never fair.”
Highlighted by 893 Kindle readers
“You know what you are in English? You’re a bicycle, and the other kids are cars.”
Highlighted by 764 Kindle readers
It was the most incredible feeling ever, knowing that something I wrote actually changed someone’s life.
Highlighted by 680 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

Awards and Praise for Front Desk:Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's LiteratureParents' Choice Gold Medal Fiction Award WinnerNPR Best Books of the YearKirkus Reviews Best Books of the YearPublishers Weekly Best Books of the YearWashington Post Best Books of the YearAmazon Best Books of the YearSchool Library Journal Best Books of the YearBookpage Best Books of the YearNew York Public Library Best Books of the YearChicago Public Library Best Books of the YearTop Ten Debut Novels 2018 - ALA Booklist* "Debut author Yang weaves in autobiographical content while creating a feisty and empowered heroine. The supporting characters are rich in voice and context, with multiple villains and friends that achingly reveal life in America in the 1990s for persons of color and those living in poverty. Heavy themes, including extortion, fraud, and racism, are balanced with the naïve dreams and determination of a 10-year-old.... With bittersweet information on Chinese immigration to America added in an author's note, this book captures many important themes to explore individually or in the classroom. Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "Mia herself is an irresistible protagonist, and it is a pleasure to see both her writing and her power grow through a series of letters that she sends to remedy injustices. The hefty and satisfying dose of wish fulfillment that closes the story feels fully earned by the specificity and detailed warmth of Yang's setup. Many young readers will see themselves in Mia and her friends.... A swiftly moving plot and a winsome protagonist make this a first purchase for any collection, especially where realistic fiction is in demand." -- School Library Journal, starred review* "It's the details that sing in this novel, particularly the small moments that feel like everything when you're a kid...This book will help foster empathy for the immigrant experience for young readers, while for immigrant children, it is a much-needed and validating mirror....Deserving of shelf space in every classroom and library." -- Booklist, starred review"Reminiscent of the television series Fresh Off the Boat, this title is an honest account of the ups and downs of immigrant life in America in the early 1990s, here told from a child's perspective. Basing the story on her own childhood experiences, Yang writes Mia's dreams into reality without sacrificing or minimizing the heartbreaking realities of many immigrants' hardships. Resilient Mia stumbles over and over again, but she satisfyingly picks herself right back up, often with the help of her parents, Calivista family, and friends. The question of whether Mia will win the essay contest is a big one, but whether or not the answer is yes, there is much satisfaction in this book's powerful and heart-wrenching close." -- Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books, starred review"Mia's gradual understanding of racism and prejudice in America and her subsequent activism are at the heart of this triumphant tale. Readers will admire Mia for her audacity and her creativity.... Yang threads both comedy and social issues through Mia's relatable and entertaining storyline from a few decades ago (the 1990s) and makes it relevant to 2018 America." -- Horn Book"Front Desk is a story about the hardships of immigrant life, the perpetuation of injustice, and a sweet, kind, indomitable young girl who chooses to rise up and fight no matter how hard it gets. Kelly Yang's debut is a stunner." -- Mike Jung, author of Unidentified Suburban Object

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Press; Reprint edition (June 25, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1338157825
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1338157826
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 11 years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 640L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 7.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Children's Asian & Asian American Books
- #14 in Children's Fiction on Social Situations
- #253 in Children's Family Life Books (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 5,117 ratings

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Kelly Yang

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Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of the FRONT DESK series, including FRONT DESK, THREE KEYS, ROOM TO DREAM, KEY PLAYER, and TOP STORY, winner of the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children's Literature, the FINALLY series, including FINALLY SEEN, and FINALLY HEARD, NEW FROM HERE, YES WE WILL, and the young adult novels PARACHUTES and PRIVATE LABEL.

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Edwin

Loved it !!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024

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My daughter loved this book it talked about real life things it talk about a lot of subjects it is a great book to read and we love the series definitely should buy

One person found this helpful

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Huber

Fantastic book! We couldn’t put it down!

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2022

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I purchased this book for my classroom library after another teacher suggested it. I read the book in 2 days. It is a wonderfully written book. the main character is very relatable, but she also sees and experiences things like racism and poverty. The book has an overwhelmingly positive message, including family, friends, community, perseverance. I love the layers of humor woven in the book. My children and I read together each night. I knew I had to share this story with them. They are 9 and 11, and they would beg me to keep reading, “Just one more chapter! It’s not a long one!” I love that it has talking points in the back of the book to help drive our family discussion. I am grateful for Kelly Yang’s book, and we can’t wait to read the sequel!

3 people found this helpful

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fisc

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024

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Purchased for my 8 year old third grade granddaughter. She was very excited and looks forward to the next one

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2022

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Mia is a ten-year-old Chinese immigrant. She had immigrated to California from China 2 years earlier with her parents, who were hoping for a better life. Unfortunately, the United States in the 1990s was not exactly welcoming to Chinese immigrants, and many struggled. Mia and her parents were no different. After gaining and losing several jobs and facing homelessness again, Mia's parents take a job managing a motel. Unfortunately, the motel owner - who is Taiwanese, not Chinese, as he is quick to point out - is not only overtly racist, he is also exploitive and seems almost happy to point out to Mia's parents that they could be replaced immediately when they question his actions.

But Mia and her parents try to make the best of it. Mia works the front desk when at the motel, quickly learning the ropes and consistently trying to find ways to help the guests and her family. She also becomes friends with the weeklies at the motel - those guests who live at the motel and pay weekly - and they quickly become part of her growing family.

At school, though, Mia struggles. She can't tell the other students - most of whom are white - that she lives in a motel. She struggles in English, though she loves writing, and she also has disagreements with her mother who thinks she should focus on math and forget about writing because "she'll never be able to write as well as the white kids" for whom English is their native language.

Most of the book is a slice-of-life look at running a hotel and Mia's struggle to integrate with the other students at school. Though it may seem to some that too much goes wrong at the motel in too short a period of time, I can say from experience that this depiction is incredibly realistic. While reading it, I was having flashbacks to my own experience managing a motel and running the front desk. The news Mia and her family get in chapter 55, in particular, hit hard on the feels for me, because my husband and I went through that same situation. We didn't use the same solution that Mia and her family did, and I definitely loved the solution they came up with.

Throughout the story were the letters that Mia wrote, each for a different situation. These were an added touch, helping to bring the reader back to the days of the early and mid-90s, before email was ubiquitous and text messaging was still a dream. Her struggle to put word to paper, to make sure she was using the right words and tenses, was an added dimension to the story that I didn't expect but definitely appreciated. The author's note at the end, where she discussed her own experiences was also incredibly moving, and I loved learning that much of the book's scenarios were pulled from her own experiences, while also wanting to give a hug to the child that had to experience that struggle.

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, narrated by Sunny Lu, and I highly recommend it. Lu did a wonderful job with the narration, injecting just the right amount of emotion and tension into the performance. I had to force myself to stop listening so I could go to bed; had I not, I would have listened right through to the end and not getting any sleep. While I would have enjoyed the story, work the next day would not have been fun. Lol.

So, long review short, I definitely recommend this book. For younger readers, I would recommend a parent read with them, as there are some tough situations that they may need/want to talk about. But overall, this is a story of hope for an immigrant family who is struggling to make a better life for themselves.

11 people found this helpful

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LA in Dallas

Kelly Yang is not a bicycle

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2023

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Front Desk describes the experiences of 10-year-old Chinese immigrant Mia Tang helping to run a small motel in California. If this sounds implausible, I'm here to inform you that Front Desk is largely autobiographical. As Kelly Yang writes in her Author's Note

"Many of the events in Front Desk are based on reality. Growing up, I helped my parents manage several motels in California from when I was eight years old to when I was twelve years old."

She goes on to tell us that many of the specific events in the novel really happened to her as a girl. Her About the Author bio reads as follows

"Kelly Yang’s family immigrated from China when she was a young girl, and she grew up in California, in circumstances very similar to those of Mia Tang. She eventually left the motels and went to college at the age of thirteen, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She was one of the youngest women to graduate from Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, she gave up law to pursue her dream of writing and teaching kids writing. She is the founder of The Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating program for children in Asia and the United States. She is also a columnist for the South China Morning Post and has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly is the mother of three children and splits her time between Hong Kong and San Francisco."

Impressive CV!

The story is mostly about Mia's difficulties and the difficulties of her family. They struggle with extreme poverty and with mistreatment as immigrants, not to mention the greed of the motel's owner. Prejudice is an ugly presence through much of the book.

There was one other prominent theme throughout the book: the power of the written word. Because her family moved to the USA when she was ten years old, Mia's native language is Chinese, and English is difficult for her. (The bicycle remark in my review title relates to that, but I won't spoil it.) She struggles to write well. When she succeeds, she uses her writing to change her life and those of others around her.

This reminded me of my own experience as a professor. In my classes there were native English speakers (mostly Americans) and non-native speakers (including many Chinese students). As a prof, I naturally read a lot of their writing. It always struck me that the non-native speakers had a hidden advantage. Good writing is hard work. A good writer makes every word count. Chinese students writing English have no choice. They simply could not write English without thinking about every word. American students, on the other hand, could write English easily, without much thought. As a result, the Chinese students were better writers. It is true that their writing occasionally suffered from minor idiomatic infelicities that made it clear the text was not written by a native English speaker, but in clearly and creatively expressing thoughts the Chinese students did better than all but exceptional American students.

If this was a blessing, it was one in disguise. Indeed, it is a blessing the Chinese students would have preferred to do without. But when I read that Kelly Yang started college at thirteen and graduated Harvard Law, I can't help but think of it.

7 people found this helpful

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E. Campbell

Amazing, so inspiring!

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024

Verified Purchase

This book is awesome! I can't wait to read all the books! I started by reading the 4th book, Top Story, but, I realized it was the last book and I asked my mom to give me the first book. This book is heartwarming, and inspiring! Make more, Kelly.

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Amazon Customer

Fascinating and Captivating Story

Reviewed in Canada on December 8, 2022

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This was a fascinating and captivating story from start to finish.

Although the book is rated for readers age 9-12, I bought this for my 8 year old granddaughter. After skimming the first chapter and a half, I wasn't certain this is a book written for children.

Anyway, our library had an audio version available, so I borrowed it and started listening... and ended up spending the next 7 hours listening to the entire book.

In my opinion, the writer, Kelly Yang, has that special knack for story telling that's akin to Nicholas Sparks. I mention this because many published authors abound who don't have as great a story telling ability that matches their expert writing ability; and there IS this difference.

I can whole-heartedly recommend this book to readers of all ages. My granddaughter is getting the book for Christmas.

Deepanjan D.

Good must read book

Reviewed in India on September 12, 2021

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"It is a very nice book. Must read for children " - as said by my daughter

Mauro De Martini

Tudo em ordem e no prazo

Reviewed in Brazil on February 16, 2020

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Tudo em ordem e no prazo

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Mr. B Wayne

Great book for my 10yo mix race daughter.

Reviewed in Singapore on January 7, 2024

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Teaches about life in California. The ups and downs of immigration and inspires kids to become a writer. Kelly Yang writes happy, strong character books with a little political viewpoints interlocked. We spread the books as gifts and all my kid’s classmates here in Singapore want to read that book now.
The whole series is great. Then there are a few other books that are good but not as great imho.

パタポン

読みやすい英語で面白い

Reviewed in Japan on July 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

大変なことがたくさん起こり、途中読み進めるのがつらくもなったが、読後感は清々しい。
とても読みやすい英語なのもよかった。

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