Ratings6
Average rating4.2
New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang is back with another heartwarming and inspiring story of Mia and friends! Mia Tang is going for her dreams! After years of hard work, Mia Tang finally gets to go on vacation with her family -- to China! A total dream come true! Mia can't wait to see all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin Shen. As she roams around Beijing, witnessing some of the big changes China's going through, Mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like . . . 1. Lupe's taking classes at the high school! And Mia's own plans to be a big writer are . . . stuck. 2. Something happened with Jason and Mia has no idea what to do about it. 3. New buildings are popping up all around the motel, and small businesses are disappearing. Can the Calivista survive? Buckle up! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has . . . room to dream!
Reviews with the most likes.
It's been fun seeing how Mia's voice and emotional maturity develops over the course of this series, and I hope that there will be an opportunity for Yang to pivot this series to YA over time. This one dealt with tricky subjects like visiting your home country, differing speeds of economic development, family expectations, gentrification, and everything related to middle school.
Aw I just love Mia so much, truly a top-tier middle grade narrator. I loved reading that this was partly based on the author's life–like truthfully when Mia got the column in the China Kids Gazette so quickly I thought it was a little over the top but in a way that I'm willing to forgive in fiction, but apparently it happened pretty much just like that for Kelly Yang when she visited China as a kid. Good for Kelly and for Mia!
Anyway I just think all of these books are so good at showing the ways big picture problems such as immigration laws and capitalism affect kids and showing both that they are basically insurmountable AND YET finding basically plausible ways for kid-led community action to actually have an impact and I just think that's so important! Front Desk #4 Mia Overthrows The Government! FUCK THEM UP, MIA
Featured Series
5 primary booksFront Desk is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Kelly Yang.