Middle-grade novel · Fiction
Front Desk
Kelly Yang
About the book
Ten-year-old Mia Tang runs the front desk of the motel her immigrant family manages, while dealing with an unfair owner and injustice toward guests.
Reading notes
Realistic fiction about immigration, poverty, and using writing to make change; deals with racism, bullying, and the exploitation of immigrant workers.
This description was drafted with AI assistance and checked by a separate AI review against catalog, publisher and award sources on 2026-11-11. It has not been reviewed by a human editor. Report an error.
Book details
- Author
- Kelly Yang
- First published
- 2018
- Suggested ages
- Ages 8–12 (editorial estimate — children vary)
- Reading mode
- Independent reader
- Topics
- immigration, family, writing
- Edition shown
- ISBN 9781338157796 · Arthur A. Levine Books, 2018 · Hardcover
- Catalog record
- Open Library work record · edition record
Metadata verified against Open Library on 2026-11-11. Other editions and formats exist; ISBNs differ by edition.
Featured in
Age guide
Books for Ages 9 to 12: A Guide to Middle Grade Reading
What middle grade means, the wide range of maturity within it, graphic and verse novels as real reading, heavier themes, and why read-aloud still matters.
For educators & librarians
How to Run a Middle-Grade Book Club for Ages 9–12: Agendas, Norms and Question Sets
Run a book club for ages 9–12: choosing titles with students, roles, pacing, norms, a sample agenda, questions for three novels, and handling sensitive content.
Reading & literacy
Reading in Bilingual and Multilingual Families: Home Language, Dual-Language Books and More
Why reading in your home language matters, how to use bilingual and translated books, books about families living across languages, and how the library can help.