It was hard to watch the struggles of this kid and her family and friends but it's impossible not to care about them. It's a book that talks about important things in a totally organic way and that is a rare treat - like tasty health food!

Front Desk is a sweet, simple, heartfelt middle-grade novel -- on the surface. It also touches on insecurities of many kinds (including financial and social), prejudice, violence, predatory lending practices, and plenty of other subjects that might otherwise be considered "grown-up stuff" only.

It has such a strong family at its core, though, that even these hard topics are dealt with gracefully and in age-appropriate ways. There are powerful positive messages, too, about looking out for each other, sharing what we've got, and not judging based on appearances.

But more than that, it has a great story about a kid named Mia who is SO EXCITED to be running a motel and helping out her family. It's awesome.

Give to any middle grade kid (or adult!) who wants to see what it's REALLY like to run a motel...and how believing the best of people leads to great things.

Mia Tang is in the fifth grade. As noted in the Goodreads description she has some secrets. We read her story and find that she has experienced much more than many of us can imagine at the age of nine. Her resourcefulness and empathy are an inspiration. What is most fascinating is that the author writes from experiences she had helping her immigrant parents as she was growing up. This book is brilliant and would be a wonderful read aloud for 4th - 6th grade students. A worthy contender for the Newbery!

The story of a young immigrant girl whose parents end up running a hotel. This book is much deeper than the cover or the description would lead you to believe.

Mia has such great tenacity in this book and really shows that you can do anything you set your mind to. This is a great book about immigration and showing that if we include everyone, the community is stronger for it.