Download high-resolution image
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00

Front Desk

Author Kelly Yang
Read by Sunny Lu
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00
Winner of the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature!

* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review


Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?
Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of New From Here, the Front Desk series, and the young adult novels Parachutes and Private Label. Her books have earned multiple awards, including the 2019 APALA Award for Children’s Literature, the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal, and multiple best of the year lists, and her writing has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly immigrated to the United States when she was six years old and grew up in Southern California. Today, she and her family live in Los Angeles.

Featuring beloved illustrators:
Nabi H. Ali
Fahmida Azim
Marcos Chin
Sally Deng
Shreya Gupta
Julia Kuo
Julie Kwon
Nhung Lê
Kitkat Pecson
Dow Phumiruk
Sujean Rim
Dan Santat
Yuewei Shi
Yuko Shimizu
Yao Xiao View titles by Kelly Yang

About

Winner of the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature!

* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review


Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?

Author

Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of New From Here, the Front Desk series, and the young adult novels Parachutes and Private Label. Her books have earned multiple awards, including the 2019 APALA Award for Children’s Literature, the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal, and multiple best of the year lists, and her writing has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly immigrated to the United States when she was six years old and grew up in Southern California. Today, she and her family live in Los Angeles.

Featuring beloved illustrators:
Nabi H. Ali
Fahmida Azim
Marcos Chin
Sally Deng
Shreya Gupta
Julia Kuo
Julie Kwon
Nhung Lê
Kitkat Pecson
Dow Phumiruk
Sujean Rim
Dan Santat
Yuewei Shi
Yuko Shimizu
Yao Xiao View titles by Kelly Yang

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

PRH Education Classroom Libraries

“Books are a students’ passport to entering and actively participating in a global society with the empathy, compassion, and knowledge it takes to become the problem solvers the world needs.” –Laura Robb   Research shows that reading and literacy directly impacts students’ academic success and personal growth. To help promote the importance of daily independent

Read more