Staff Pick
I loved Kelly Yang’s previous book, Front Desk, and am so excited for this second book about life at the Calivista Motel. Things are looking up now that the Tang family and their investors have bought the motel, but problems arise for Mia and her best friend Lupe when they go back to school. The girls have a mean new homeroom teacher, and a proposed law cracking down on immigration is on everyone’s mind. I look forward to seeing how bighearted, plucky Mia deals with these new challenges. Recommended By Jennifer H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The story of Mia and her
family and friends at the Calivista Motel continues in this powerful,
hilarious, and resonant sequel to the award-winning novel Front Desk.
Mia Tang thinks she's going to have the best year ever.
She and her parents are the proud owners of the Calivista Motel,
Mia gets to run the front desk with her best friend, Lupe, and she's
finally getting somewhere with her writing!
But as it turns out, sixth grade is no picnic...
1. Mia's new teacher doesn't think her writing is all that great.
And her entire class finds out she lives and works in a motel!
2. The motel is struggling, and Mia has to answer to the Calivista's many, many worried investors.
3. A new immigration law is looming and if it passes, it will threaten everything — and everyone — in Mia's life.
It's a roller coaster of challenges, and Mia needs all of her
determination to hang on tight. But if anyone can find the key to
getting through turbulent times, it's Mia Tang!
Review
"[Yang] has a remarkable talent
for relating serious even traumatic issues in a way that won't trigger
readers, grounding the well-paced story in the struggles, doubts, and
deep love between Mia's friends and family." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Yang expertly presents resonant themes — including privilege, assimilation, and solidarity....Engaging with a political
climate that is similar to current times, Mia is the compassionate,
action-driven heroine today's readers deserve." Publishers Weekly
Review
"...Mia bravely uses her voice and her pen to
change opinions — with family, friends, teachers, and even voters. Don't miss this brave hero as she confronts anti-immigrant hatred in a timely historical novel." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
The story of Mia and her family and friends at the Calivista Motel continues in this powerful, hilarious, and resonant sequel to the award-winning novel
Front Desk.
Mia Tang thinks she's going to have the best year ever. She and her parents are the proud owners of the Calivista Motel, Mia gets to run the front desk with her best friend, Lupe, and she's finally getting somewhere with her writing But as it turns out, sixth grade is no picnic...1. Mia's new teacher doesn't think her writing is all that great. And her entire class finds out she lives and works in a motel 2. The motel is struggling, and Mia has to answer to the Calivista's many, many worried investors.3. A new immigration law is looming and if it passes, it will threaten everything -- and everyone -- in Mia's life.It's a roller coaster of challenges, and Mia needs all of her determination to hang on tight. But if anyone can find the key to getting through turbulent times, it's Mia Tang
About the Author
Kelly Yang is the author of
Front Desk, which won the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for
Literature and was chosen a Best Book of the Year by multiple
publications, including NPR, the
Washington Post, and the New York Public Library. Kelly's family
immigrated to the United States 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 13, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is
the founder of The Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating
program for children in Asia and the United States. Her writing has been
published in the
South China Morning Post, the
New York Times, the
Washington Post, and the
Atlantic. To learn more about her and the Front Desk books, visit frontdeskthebook.com.