Front Desk by Kelly Yang

 Mia Tang's family emigrated from China when Mia was six.  Since then they have struggled to get jobs that paid enough to keep food on the table and a roof over their head.  When an opportunity arises for them to become managers of a motel, they take it because they can live rent free.  They soon discover, however, that the motel owner is not a nice man and takes every opportunity to take money out of the Tang's pay.  Mia's parents are kind and generous and can't help wanting to assist other Chinese immigrants who are struggling by letting them secretly stay at the motel for free.  Mia also helps them out by occasionally forging legal documents they need to escape bad situations.  When the owner discovers their secrets, there is heck to pay, but maybe all the people they have been helping with be able to help them out of a tough situation.

This book got a lot of attention when it was published in 2018.  It won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature and several other awards.  It is based on the author's own experiences as a new immigrant.  I, however, found it very hard to read.  I guess, because of my specific religious upbringing, I kept thinking, "You can't do that. It is totally dishonest and illegal."  Of course, the point of view of the story is that, what others were doing to the immigrants was so much worse than forging documents or lying and stealing, that is was ok to do those things to help them and yourself get out of a bad situation.  Even though I didn't enjoy reading the book, I did spend a lot of time thinking about it afterwards.  It shows an interesting difference between cultures. My culture has a strong belief in a "moral high ground" that comes from the Christian "martyr" tradition that says it is better to be honest and suffer than to lie and cheat to help someone.  I think the Chinese culture, with its strong focus on community, says that it is ok to cheat an oppressive system to help your community members. I guess it is not much different than the people who helped enslaved people escape to the north in the 1800's, or people who helped Jews escape during WWII.  I don't know why this felt different to me, but it did. Reading the book with tweens or young teens could generate some very interesting discussion. (304 p. 2018)