Monday, May 21, 2018

MMGM-Front Desk



It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Always in the Middle and #IMWAYR day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.

31247008Yang, Kelly. Front Desk.
May 29th 2018 by Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine
ARC provided by the publisher

It's the early 1990s, and Mia and her parents have moved to California from China in search of more freedom and opportunities. Unfortunately, they are not able to get the same sort of professional jobs they had in China, and work at a Chinese restaurant until Mia's help turns disastrous! They eventually find a hotel in Anaheim in need of managers, and are happy that they won't have to pay all of their salary for rent. The owner, Mr. Yao, promises them a certain rate per customer, but ends up not treating them very fairly. This makes things even harder for Mia. Not only is she helping to run the front desk while her parents spend a lot of time cleaning, she has to be in class with Jason Yao. Mia struggles a bit in school, although her English is very good. She has some trouble getting along with the other students, who are not very kind about the clothes she wears or her immigrant status, but she does find a friend in Lupe, whose father comes to repair something at the hotel. Both girls have told some white lies about their lives, knowing that other students might not understand how difficult their lives can be. Word gets out that Mia's parents occasionally will put up other Chinese immigrants at the hotel for free, so there is a steady stream of people in need of a helping hand. Mia also gets to know the "weekly" residents, including Hank. When a car is stolen from the hotel, the police look suspiciously at Hank, who is black, and when Hank later runs down criminals who beat up Mia's mother, he ends up in jail. Mia doesn't think this is fair at all, and uses her writing skills to try to improve his situation. She also uses these skills to try to win a hotel in Vermont in an essay contest. She even manages to gather a lot of money to enter, although her mother's hospital visit after being beat up threatens to be very expensive. Mia learns that while her hard work doesn't always pay off, it gets her and her family much closer to their goals of being comfortable US citizens, and also helps those around her.
Strengths: This had a lot of very well placed elements going for it. First, it is an #ownvoices book, and Yang has drawn on her own experiences. She mentions in a forward that her early days in the US were very difficult, and she wanted to share this with her son without writing a depressing book. She succeeded admirably. While the difficulties on Mia's life are very apparent, Mia, her parents, and the other people with whom Mia interacts all try very hard to do their best and to help others who need it. This makes the book realistic but upbeat. Young readers who do not understand the difficulties of immigrant life will definitely understand them after reading this book, but because Mia is such a likable character, they will hopefully use this understanding to be nicer to people in their own lives. The incident with Mia having to wear flowered stretch pants instead of jeans was heart breaking to read as an adult, and I hope that it will help readers be more aware of the difficulties their own classmates may face.
Weaknesses: As an adult, my heart broke for Mia again and again.
What I really think:  This is an essential purchase for elementary and middle schools alike, and will be enjoyed by readers who may not understand how powerful the book is. I do think it will help readers to be empathetic, and we certainly need more of that!

This is a great book to read along with Sonnenblick's The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade, because of the kindness it teaches. The school principal in that book has a quote up on his wall: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Too bad that even adults have trouble with this concept.

14 comments:

  1. I've been really looking forward to reading Front Desk. May 29th can't get here fast enough! :) Thanks for such a thorough review and have a wonderful week of reading!

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  2. I'm so eager to get my hands on this one! I am trying so hard to put book buying on hold for summer, but you know how hard that is!

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  3. Thanks for the heads-up on this one. I'd seen little snippets about it but didn't know the deeper details. I'll for sure track this one down for both home and school.

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  4. Thanks, Karen, it's a great review and one I'll be sure to find and read.

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  5. Looks great. I might seek this out over the summer as well. Once I tital the school's library budget, I am like Elisabeth, waiting for summer.

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  6. I love to see cross-cultural stories told -- especially sense they help teach empathy and inclusiveness. And it has a fast-moving and exciting plot. I want to read this one. Thanks for the recommendation! I recently reviewed a Korean story.

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  7. I replied to your comment on my blog but wasn't sure you'd see it - yes, The Great Alone is 100% adult - definitely not for kids!

    For kids' books set in the 70's, have you seen Sunny Side Up and Swing It, Sunny? Both excellent middle-grade graphic novels dealing with important topics and set in the 70's:

    http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2018/03/middle-grade-review-swing-it-sunny.html

    Enjoy your books this week!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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  8. I CANNOT wait to get this one! Michele raved about it, too.

    Happy reading this week :)

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  9. I have this downloaded from Edelweiss, and I'm hoping to get to it later this week. The cover is excellent - I'm so glad to hear the story is too.

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  10. I was fortunate enough to read an ARC of . Front Desk, Kelly’s story told through Mia is one both adults and kids need to read. I loved how Mia used writing to make change.

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  11. I actually laughed out loud at the "weaknesses." It sounds like this one is a winner. It's definitely going on my list. :)

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  12. Oh wow. I immediately marked it in my Goodreads to-find list. Thanks for such a glowing review here.

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  13. I liked your "Weaknesses" for this one. Sounds like it should go on my TBR list right away. Thanks for the review.

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  14. This sounds great and might be a good pick for my kids book club.

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