Welcome to Litsy!

“It's going to be okay. I'll make friends, and if I don't, I'll borrow books from the library.”

#Desk

#SchoolSpirit

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#9 on my read your kindle for july… @CBee #audiophile #readinggoal #readinglife

An interesting but hard read throughout.

Read for reading prompts.

Library book 📖

4/5

I‘m jumping the gun a bit on #middlegrademarch but once I started this, I couldn‘t put it down! Mia was such a great character and the author‘s note where she disclosed how much of the story was from her family‘s experiences made me cry. @megnews @sblbooks

This is the product of just a few minutes of browsing the shelves for #middlegrademarch books… plus I have some at home, and some audiobooks… plus I just put in a couple holds at the public library. I want to read literally all the books! @megnews @sblbooks

This book had a fun read with clear and straightforward language, as you'd want for young readers. But with that trapping, it managed to discuss some serious topics with surprising nuance. Immigration, poverty, assault, child labor, racism are things that nine-year-old Mia encounters as she helps her parents manage a motel. Her processing and reaction of it feel exactly right, and the book feels real while still being a great story!

This is a full on yes book for me. I would recommend it to any middle schooler. I loved going to my parents‘ workplaces & had a full-on fantastical belief that I was ready for a career. Here‘s Mia doing just that—while challenging prejudice & learning she can gain skills against feedback that would indicate otherwise. This also could serve as an intro to some of the particular ways Chinese people have been discriminated against in the U.S.

I just read this book on recommendation from one of my 6th graders and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! In contrast to The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, which stars a solidly petty bourgeois family, Front Desk details the story of Mia Yang and her parents, recent Chinese immigrants who work at a motel and are being super-exploited by their boss. This book puts working class solidarity front and center ❤️ Sincerely enjoyed reading!

Cool

This was great! It was fun, nice, and funny 😄 😄 I add this one of my favorite so I'll give this 5-stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Join me on Tuesday for a conversation with big hearted middle grade author Kelly Yang. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=spNoqupbcmg

It took me awhile to get into this episodic story of Mia Tang and her family, immigrants from China who run a motel for the cheap and mean Mr. Yao. Mia's friend Lupe and Mr. Yao's son Jason, and the "weeklies" who live at the hotel and pay by the week, are all excellently drawn secondary characters. Before I knew it, I really cared about what happened to the Tangs and loved seeing how everyone came together in a positive way in the end.

Front desk is really good, its a very good book, i recommend reading it and it isn't a very hard read to

It was a good book and it showed me how hard it can be as an immigrant.

#audiocommute in the rain. So grateful for audiobooks (as I can‘t see to read)

I'm so excited that I just got the ok from my principals to bring back my 6th grade book club! I was one of the things I missed most last year. Now to decide on our first book of the year... #schoollibraries #librariansoflitsy #teachersoflitsy

4 stars - This was a delightful read! I loved reading about the motel and the people Mia met there, and I loved her friendship with Lupe. There are some tough subjects that Mia and her parents face including racism, poverty, discrimination, and immigration, and Mia's challenge of being the new kid in class. There were moments of sadness and heartbreak, but also joy and happiness. loved Mia‘s bravery and optimism in the face of so many challenges.

Well written and engaging, this book is important reading for its targeted age group about a dark and often unacknowledged element of the immigrant experience. The predicament the protagonist and her family find themselves in is horrifying, but they prove that kindness and compassion will get you far in life.

Woah! This book was really cool. I finished it super quickly, because I just couldn‘t put it down!!

Mia‘s story is engaging and emotional, full of friendship and hardship. I recommend this funny, thought-provoking tale to all ages. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love this book!

Front Desk is my next Middle Grade finish. It‘s a story based on the author‘s childhood leaving China to come to the US with her parents and their experiences here. It is a very realistic picture of immigrant life. Lots of good life lessons. I enjoyed it very much. Middle Grade books tackle such important issues. #100YEARS100BOOKS #BookSpinBingo #18 #MGMarch #20in4 1 down, 4 to go!

A sweet and inspirational book for young readers. Optimistic young girl from an immigrant family using anecdotal experiences to give a glimpse to challenges faced not just by her family but other minorities. She is a champion for those needing to overcome some adversity with her hope and determination. Light reading due to age of target reading but worthwhile for any age.

Front desk is a good book. and this time i am not joking about anything. Front Desk is based in Kelly Yang's real-life experiences, making it an #ownvoices novel. ... Front Desk details the family's first year managing the hotel including little daily occurrences, diversity issues and the building of community at the motel.

#doublespin done! This was hard for me to get into, because there‘s so much hardship and discrimination. It felt bleak. But Mia is no pushover, and I admire her fighting spirit. Looking forward to the next one.

📚 Front Desk
📖 moist
🥘 eggs and toast

#thoughtfulthursday @MoonWitch94

I love this book!

This book was so good!! I highly recommend it for both the 9-12 readers it was intended for and also any adults looking for a heartwarming story!

Starting on an easier read after a horror novel! I‘m very excited to see where this book goes, I‘ve heard good things!

What a delight! I was recommended this book by an author recently and loved it! A young Chinese immigrant struggles with running the front desk of a motel her parents manage, with racism and poverty issues, and feelings of inadequacy when it comes to one of her favorite subjects—writing. This character is the hero we need right now!

I really enjoyed this #oregonbattleofthebooks pick about a Chinese immigrant family dealing with poverty and racism as they try to make their way in America. Based on the author‘s own experience, this story is well-written and an engaging read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A lot of important stuff here, about identity, prejudice, family, but this sold its younger readers short. I promise 10-12 year olds can handle more subtlety & don‘t need to be whapped over the head w/every message. Plus while it represents a lot of real life issues, the way Mia is able to quickly & easily solve everything is so unrealistic & implausible that I worry it would only make kids feel worse about their own similar circumstances. 2/5 ⭐️

“We have to take her to the hospital,” I said to my dad.
“No,” my mom said, coughing. “We don‘t have any insurance. Going to the hospital will kill us.”

[Ain‘t America great. 😑]

Since my last read was pretty heavy, I felt like going in a very different direction with a middle grade novel. This has some serious themes but, you know...middle grade isn‘t gonna drag you down. #nowreading

This was a great #middlegrade book about Chinese immigrants in the United States.

woohoo! first review of 2020! this was an amazing book. the plot was great, i loved mia and the other characters, and the book was just all around amazing! Front Desk shined a light on immigration in the usa and gave me a deeper understanding of my previous knowledge through a wonderful story. this was a great book and i will definitely read it again in the future!

Day 2 of breakfast in bed and finishing up all the books I have on the go. Holidays are wonderful! I loved this fictionalized account of Kelly Yang‘s coming to America. It‘s eye opening and inspiring.

Thank you @sherryvdh for the very pretty card. It‘s giving me some decorating ideas. #poutinepenpals I hope you get your Christmas wish of lots of reading time 🙏🏻

Adored every second of this book that made me feel every single emotion. Officially my new favorite kid in literature.

1: just finished the tagged book

2: PS!!! 🎃

3: “It was a picture I‘d been waiting a long, long time for.”

#weekendreads
@rachelsbrittain

MG fiction based on the author‘s real life—a Chinese family resettles in Southern California and struggles with all kinds of language barriers and indignities, but MC Mia is a hero!

This was my summer for catching up on acclaimed middle grade novels. When Mia‘s family immigrates from China to the US, her parents take a job managing a motel. Mia has to balance teen struggles along with concerns of race, poverty, crime,and justice. Lovely writing and well-developed characters pull the story together. The only piece that disappointed me was the character of Mia‘s teacher who is clueless and unsupportive.

Took an adventure break to get some library books! #24in48

4 🌟

Overall this was a lovely story, and it was recently announced that there will be a sequel.

Full Review on LT and GR

#BBRC #MGReadersChoice
#Booked2019 #DiverseMG
#LittleLoveBingo #BuddyRead
#KillYourTBR #Cityvisited

Anyone else think the teacher is racist.? This is just one sample.

#mgbuddyread #yesimbehind

You know. I really kind of hate this kids mom. She‘s not Mommie Dearest bad, but she‘s no laugh riot either.

Anyone else get pissed off when her mother told her she couldn‘t write because she wasn‘t a native speaker. Ighhhhhhhhhhhhh