My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the cover:
"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?"
This book has been on my TBR list for a long while, and even knowing roughly what it was about and hearing glowing things about it for so long, I was unprepared for the heaviness in the book.
For those who dismiss middle grade books and assume they don't tackle heavy issues, don't be fooled. The cover may look cheerful and light, but this book is not fluff. It gets real right away, with Mia and her parents living out of their car until her dad finally lands a job at a Chinese restaurant. Mia's mom works there too, and Mia is pressed into becoming a waitress as well, until she accidentally drops a full tray of food on some customers and she and her mom both get fired. Her parents decide to take a job as the managers of a motel near Disneyland. On paper, the opportunity sounds like a dream - room and board plus their pay for managing the motel? What more could they ask for? As it turns out...a lot. A lot more.
The motel owner, Mr. Yao is stingy, dishonest, and pretty transparently taking advantage of poor, desperate immigrants with few other job opportunities. In spite of his almost constant docking of their pay, nearly impossible expectations, and open cruelty, though, Mia and her family are still in a better position than many other Chinese immigrants. After hearing the stories of a few immigrants who visit the motel, they decide to do what they can do help immigrants fleeing horrible situations on their way to better opportunities. It's a risk, given how callous Mr. Yao is, but they can't let these people struggle when they could at least offer them a shower, a good night's sleep, and a hot meal with friendly faces.
Of course, in addition to helping to run the motel, sheltering immigrants and keeping it a secret from Mr. Yao, and worrying about money with her parents, Mia is also going to school...and Mr. Yao's son is in her class. This means on top of everything else, she gets to deal with bullies at school. In spite of it all, though, Mia is always looking for ways to make the world a brighter place, and she works hard to use her words and her writing to do just that. She and her family experience setbacks along the way, and there are some truly terrible moments along the way, but she doesn't let any of those bad experiences break her spirit. Her indominable will and courage become even more impressive when you read the author's note and realize that many of the stories included in this work of fiction actually happened and that Mia's story is true for countless immigrants.
This book has been on my list for a long time, and even hearing from multiple sources how good it was, somehow it still managed to surpass my expectations. It's an excellent middle grade novel, and I can't recommend it enough!
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