Front desk
(Book)

Includes Author's note with bibliographical references and images.

"Mia 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?"--Page 2 of cover.

Structure indicator: 90 (high),Syntactic indicator: 100 (very high),Semantic indicator: 100 (very high),Decoding indicator: 100 (very high),Lexile.

640L,Lexile

Accelerated Reader,MG,4.5,9.0.

A Junior Library Guild selection.

ALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019

Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature, 2019

Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2018

Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Older Readers, 2018

CSMCL Best Books, 2018

Kirkus Prize Nominee for Young Readers' Literature, 2018

New York Public Library Best Books for Kids, 2018

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2019

Publisher's Weekly Best Middle Grade Book, 2018

School Library Journal's Best Books, 2018