Front Desk

A very sweet middle-grade story about a little girl named Mia who loves to write, and whose family of Chinese immigrants manages a motel in Anaheim, Calif. The characters are beautifully drawn, not just Mia's family, but also her friend Lupe, the “weeklies” that live in the motel, and the son of the mean hotel owner, who is in Mia's class and who has a ... let's say rough go of being torn between his father's world and that of Mia, Lupe and anyone else who is poor. It's a lovely story about being inclusive and welcoming and trying to give everyone a helping hand when you can, and how Mia finds her voice through her writing even when her mom isn't confident that Mia will be as good at “native English” as her classmates.

I listened to the audio, and the reader was great. My only issue is the ending, which I felt was totally unrealistic (but everything does wrap up nicely). I get that this is a kid's book, and narrator Mia is an eternal optimist, but the story includes a lot about hardships of not only her own family, but immigrants in similar life and work situations, and the end felt both implausible and too simplistic. I still thought it was great, and absolutely worth checking out.