Front Desk 2

The follow up to Front Desk finds our three cover characters in sixth grade. 

Mia is still working occasionally at the front desk at the motel. Hank is now working for her family, too. Her main personal struggle in the book is with her new sixth grade teacher, who seems on the racist side at first, supporting a politician who's going to pass Prop 187, an anti-immigrant bill basically. 

I need to stop for a sec. Prop 187 was a real thing. The prejudiced events in this book are all things that really happened. The nasty candidate for governor mentioned is a real person. And this is set in 1994. I'm not sure if I just missed it and I'm really unobservant or if I was so sucked into the story that I never thought about the time, but I completely missed the 90s setting of the first book. 

Anyway, Mia struggles with the things this teacher says and how she excuses the prejudiced things her classmates say to Mia right there in the classroom. Mia is even punished when she stands up for herself. She never asks an adult for help, but over the course of the book it's Mia herself who gets this woman to change her viewpoints. 

How this teacher grades Mia's writing is also a worry for her, though eventually the teacher admits she sees promise and works with Mia one-on-one to get her up to speed on English grammar and then the more nuanced parts of writing in English. 

There are also issues with Mia's parents. Mia's father misses his scientist job and wishes Mia wasn't becoming so American. Mia's mother wants to be like other ladies she sees, so she applies for a credit card and makes some snotty Chinese friends that she eventually ends up telling off for being racist. 

The motel goes through a slump and some of the paper investors are threatening to back out, but by the end, the kids have come up with an idea to turn it into a cheaper hostel-type place and bring in even more money. They'll be able to hire cleaning help, which means Mia's mom can pursue her new dream of teaching math. Mia's father sets his dreams on the shelf to support his wife. 

Over to Jason. He's had a slow summer but hasn't contacted Mia at all. He's spent all his time learning to cook and he's really good at it! His struggle is very minor compared to the girls'. His father's businesses aren't doing well and they have to move into a smaller home and adjust to a simpler lifestyle. He wants to take cooking classes and is eventually able to persuade his family that's what he wants to do. Mr. Yao even becomes a better guy by the end of this one. Not a good guy by any means. He's still an ass who supported the shitty bill, but he at least is better about his son by the end. 

Now Lupe is the one with the big problem. She reveals that she's undocumented. Her whole family is. Her mother has to return to Mexico because her mother died. Then while she's trying to get back across the border, Lupe's dad goes to look for her and is arrested. Lupe is living at the motel while everyone helps try to get her father out of jail and her mother back home. Once they finally get a lawyer, she says it's best if Lupe's mom stays in Mexico for now. The core of the book is everyone working together to get Lupe's father out of jail and figure out a way he can stay in the US. 

Once again, it's an amazing book. Kelly Yang really is a master of being light-hearted and moving and heavy all at once. She knows how to write how life can be and she doesn't pull punches. I'm happy to be starting the next one today.