Front Desk
Kelly Yang
Juvenile Fiction
Arthur A. Levine Books
2018
304
Recent immigrants from China and desperate for work and money, ten-year-old Mia Tang's parents take a job managing a rundown motel in Southern California, even though the owner, Mr. Yao is a nasty skinflint who exploits them; while her mother (who was an engineer in China) does the cleaning, Mia works the front desk and tries to cope with demanding customers and other recent immigrants--not to mention being only one of two Chinese in her fifth grade class, the other being Mr. Yao's son, Jason.
Front Desk was a very enjoyable read. Would recommend to people adults of all ages.
Day 3 was mostly pool skills. We met our instructor and I met the other kids. We set up our gear and hopped in the pool to start doing some skills. We passed the skills successfully and went to lunch. At lunch we got a kids buffet with spagetti and great grilled cheeses (My mom’s are still better though). Afterwards the girls and I went to the bar and got milkshakes because some kid took all the cookies. Then we went in the hot tub until our break was over. We did even more skills and then went into the ocean for a swimming and floating test. Once we were done for the day the instuctor left leaving us alone to play in the pool and ocean.
Day 1: Day 1 and 2 will most likely be the most boring part of the journey. Driving, waking up early, and flying. Lots and lots of flying. The expedition started when my dad got home. We hopped into the car and went to Pudge’s. Then we continued all the way to The Parking Spot where we left our car to go on the shuttle. The floor on the shuttle was shiny which entertained me for a solid 10 seconds. The shuttle ride was pretty boring. Then we reached the hotel. We were staying at a Marriott for the night until the next day at 2:30 am
Flight number 1: Day 2 was mostly flying. We first woke up at 2:30am to get over to the airport. Once we made it to the airport we had to wait till 3:15 because the checked bags area wasn’t open. We checked our luggage and moved on to security. Once we passed through security it felt so weird because none of the stores and restaurants were open. I almost forgot it was like 3:30 and of course none of the stores would be open. We boarded after waiting for about 40 minutes. On the flight I started watching a movie but then fell asleep. I woke up right on time for seatbelts going off.
Day 2, Flight 2: After that we were in North Carolina. We went to Starbucks and I got a muffin. We then waited for the plane to come pick us up so we could go to Grand Cayman. The Charlotte to Grand Cayman flight was the longest flight but I entertained myself with a movie. Once we got to Grand Cayman we had to wait because of a layover.
Day 2, Flight 3: We had to get a shuttle to take us to a restaurant for lunch. We still had quite a bit of time to spend so we walked around the small airport that only had 2 shops that weren’t selling alcohol. We finished walking around the entire airport and still had time so we sat down and I played Mario Kart on my DS. After that it was FINALY time to board the tiny little airplane. I was kind of scared of what was happening in the beginning because I didn’t know what was happening. But there wasn’t a door between the pilot and the passengers so we could see inside the cockpit. It was a pretty short flight from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman. Once we got in the shuttle and registered we were in the resort. The food was delicious and I got to play in the pool which was very fun. I also met met a friend I already knew.
