Front Desk
Kindle
$5.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$10.99
Paperback
$7.19
Audible Logo Your audiobook is waiting!
Enjoy a free trial on us
$0.00
  • Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $18.00
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Front Desk Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Kelly Yang (Author), Sunny Lu (Narrator), Listening Library (Publisher)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 5,117 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Asian American Stories for Children
See all formats and editions

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

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number one: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, 10-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number two: 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 three: 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?

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 30 minutes
  2. Author
    Kelly Yang
  3. Narrator
    Sunny Lu
  4. Audible release date
    November 6, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Listening Library
  7. ASIN
    B07JD9X7FY
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $8.49 after you buy the Kindle book.
Now Available
Hear Stephen Fry's iconic performance of the Harry Potter series. Listen now

Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 30 minutes
Author Kelly Yang
Narrator Sunny Lu
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date November 06, 2018
Publisher Listening Library
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07JD9X7FY
Best Sellers Rank #14,046 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Asian American Stories for Children
#35 in Children's Asian & Asian American Books
#66 in Family Life Fiction for Children

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
5,117 global ratings
My favorite middle grade book of 2018 so far
5 Stars
My favorite middle grade book of 2018 so far
I'll never look at a motel with the same eyes again. Author Kelly Yang brings us Mia Tang, a younger version of herself, who helped her parents manage a motel in southern California in the early 1990s.Mia and her parents arrive from China with two hundred dollars, unwavering optimism, and the belief that if they work hard enough, they will achieve the American dream:  a big house, a dog, and an endless supply of juicy hamburgers. After two years of backbreaking jobs and sketchy living conditions, Mia's parents rush to sign a contract to manage the Calista Motel located five miles from Disneyland.Mr. Yao, the notoriously cheap and unscrupulous motel owner, informs the Tangs that the contract allows him to make any changes and if they don't like the terms, "Just say the word. There are ten thousand immigrants who would take your job in two seconds" (p. 27).Mia quickly makes friends with the "weeklies" and assigns herself front desk duty because her parents must clean every room themselves and be available 24/7  to check in guests.Mia's moxie and sense of justice emerge as she takes on adult responsibilities with a sense of pride and unbridled enthusiasm.She makes plenty of mistakes which makes us empathize with her struggles and root for her as she tackles the english language, bullies, crime, and embarrassment about her thrift store clothes. (Keep your eyes open for the tale of the designer jeans.)Chapters are vignettes that are strung along with seamless transitions to make reading a pure pleasure. The author captures Mia's voice so authentically that the reader is instantly drawn into the story. Mia's uses the power of the written word to advocate for herself and others.Kids will fall in love with Mia and cheer her fierce determination as she navigates her way through poverty and injustice, bringing her family, the weeklies, and everyone else who want to be part of the American dream with her.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Edwin
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it !!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
My daughter loved this book it talked about real life things it talk about a lot of subjects it is a great book to read and we love the series definitely should buy
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Huber
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book! We couldn’t put it down!
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2022
Verified Purchase
I purchased this book for my classroom library after another teacher suggested it. I read the book in 2 days. It is a wonderfully written book. the main character is very relatable, but she also sees and experiences things like racism and poverty. The book has an overwhelmingly positive message, including family, friends, community, perseverance. I love the layers of humor woven in the book. My children and I read together each night. I knew I had to share this story with them. They are 9 and 11, and they would beg me to keep reading, “Just one more chapter! It’s not a long one!” I love that it has talking points in the back of the book to help drive our family discussion. I am grateful for Kelly Yang’s book, and we can’t wait to read the sequel!
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
fisc
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
Purchased for my 8 year old third grade granddaughter. She was very excited and looks forward to the next one
Helpful
 Report
Jennifer C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
Mia is a ten-year-old Chinese immigrant. She had immigrated to California from China 2 years earlier with her parents, who were hoping for a better life. Unfortunately, the United States in the 1990s was not exactly welcoming to Chinese immigrants, and many struggled. Mia and her parents were no different. After gaining and losing several jobs and facing homelessness again, Mia's parents take a job managing a motel. Unfortunately, the motel owner - who is Taiwanese, not Chinese, as he is quick to point out - is not only overtly racist, he is also exploitive and seems almost happy to point out to Mia's parents that they could be replaced immediately when they question his actions.

But Mia and her parents try to make the best of it. Mia works the front desk when at the motel, quickly learning the ropes and consistently trying to find ways to help the guests and her family. She also becomes friends with the weeklies at the motel - those guests who live at the motel and pay weekly - and they quickly become part of her growing family.

At school, though, Mia struggles. She can't tell the other students - most of whom are white - that she lives in a motel. She struggles in English, though she loves writing, and she also has disagreements with her mother who thinks she should focus on math and forget about writing because "she'll never be able to write as well as the white kids" for whom English is their native language.

Most of the book is a slice-of-life look at running a hotel and Mia's struggle to integrate with the other students at school. Though it may seem to some that too much goes wrong at the motel in too short a period of time, I can say from experience that this depiction is incredibly realistic. While reading it, I was having flashbacks to my own experience managing a motel and running the front desk. The news Mia and her family get in chapter 55, in particular, hit hard on the feels for me, because my husband and I went through that same situation. We didn't use the same solution that Mia and her family did, and I definitely loved the solution they came up with.

Throughout the story were the letters that Mia wrote, each for a different situation. These were an added touch, helping to bring the reader back to the days of the early and mid-90s, before email was ubiquitous and text messaging was still a dream. Her struggle to put word to paper, to make sure she was using the right words and tenses, was an added dimension to the story that I didn't expect but definitely appreciated. The author's note at the end, where she discussed her own experiences was also incredibly moving, and I loved learning that much of the book's scenarios were pulled from her own experiences, while also wanting to give a hug to the child that had to experience that struggle.

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, narrated by Sunny Lu, and I highly recommend it. Lu did a wonderful job with the narration, injecting just the right amount of emotion and tension into the performance. I had to force myself to stop listening so I could go to bed; had I not, I would have listened right through to the end and not getting any sleep. While I would have enjoyed the story, work the next day would not have been fun. Lol.

So, long review short, I definitely recommend this book. For younger readers, I would recommend a parent read with them, as there are some tough situations that they may need/want to talk about. But overall, this is a story of hope for an immigrant family who is struggling to make a better life for themselves.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
LA in Dallas
4.0 out of 5 stars Kelly Yang is not a bicycle
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2023
Verified Purchase
Front Desk describes the experiences of 10-year-old Chinese immigrant Mia Tang helping to run a small motel in California. If this sounds implausible, I'm here to inform you that Front Desk is largely autobiographical. As Kelly Yang writes in her Author's Note

"Many of the events in Front Desk are based on reality. Growing up, I helped my parents manage several motels in California from when I was eight years old to when I was twelve years old."

She goes on to tell us that many of the specific events in the novel really happened to her as a girl. Her About the Author bio reads as follows

"Kelly Yang’s family immigrated from China when she was a young girl, and she grew up in California, in circumstances very similar to those of Mia Tang. She eventually left the motels and went to college at the age of thirteen, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She was one of the youngest women to graduate from Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, she gave up law to pursue her dream of writing and teaching kids writing. She is the founder of The Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating program for children in Asia and the United States. She is also a columnist for the South China Morning Post and has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly is the mother of three children and splits her time between Hong Kong and San Francisco."

Impressive CV!

The story is mostly about Mia's difficulties and the difficulties of her family. They struggle with extreme poverty and with mistreatment as immigrants, not to mention the greed of the motel's owner. Prejudice is an ugly presence through much of the book.

There was one other prominent theme throughout the book: the power of the written word. Because her family moved to the USA when she was ten years old, Mia's native language is Chinese, and English is difficult for her. (The bicycle remark in my review title relates to that, but I won't spoil it.) She struggles to write well. When she succeeds, she uses her writing to change her life and those of others around her.

This reminded me of my own experience as a professor. In my classes there were native English speakers (mostly Americans) and non-native speakers (including many Chinese students). As a prof, I naturally read a lot of their writing. It always struck me that the non-native speakers had a hidden advantage. Good writing is hard work. A good writer makes every word count. Chinese students writing English have no choice. They simply could not write English without thinking about every word. American students, on the other hand, could write English easily, without much thought. As a result, the Chinese students were better writers. It is true that their writing occasionally suffered from minor idiomatic infelicities that made it clear the text was not written by a native English speaker, but in clearly and creatively expressing thoughts the Chinese students did better than all but exceptional American students.

If this was a blessing, it was one in disguise. Indeed, it is a blessing the Chinese students would have preferred to do without. But when I read that Kelly Yang started college at thirteen and graduated Harvard Law, I can't help but think of it.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
E. Campbell
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, so inspiring!
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
This book is awesome! I can't wait to read all the books! I started by reading the 4th book, Top Story, but, I realized it was the last book and I asked my mom to give me the first book. This book is heartwarming, and inspiring! Make more, Kelly.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Captivating Story
Reviewed in Canada on December 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
This was a fascinating and captivating story from start to finish.

Although the book is rated for readers age 9-12, I bought this for my 8 year old granddaughter. After skimming the first chapter and a half, I wasn't certain this is a book written for children.

Anyway, our library had an audio version available, so I borrowed it and started listening... and ended up spending the next 7 hours listening to the entire book.

In my opinion, the writer, Kelly Yang, has that special knack for story telling that's akin to Nicholas Sparks. I mention this because many published authors abound who don't have as great a story telling ability that matches their expert writing ability; and there IS this difference.

I can whole-heartedly recommend this book to readers of all ages. My granddaughter is getting the book for Christmas.
Report
Deepanjan D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Good must read book
Reviewed in India on September 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
"It is a very nice book. Must read for children " - as said by my daughter
Report
Mauro De Martini
5.0 out of 5 stars Tudo em ordem e no prazo
Reviewed in Brazil on February 16, 2020
Verified Purchase
Tudo em ordem e no prazo
Report
Mr. B Wayne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for my 10yo mix race daughter.
Reviewed in Singapore on January 7, 2024
Verified Purchase
Teaches about life in California. The ups and downs of immigration and inspires kids to become a writer. Kelly Yang writes happy, strong character books with a little political viewpoints interlocked. We spread the books as gifts and all my kid’s classmates here in Singapore want to read that book now.
The whole series is great. Then there are a few other books that are good but not as great imho.
Report
パタポン
5.0 out of 5 stars 読みやすい英語で面白い
Reviewed in Japan on July 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
大変なことがたくさん起こり、途中読み進めるのがつらくもなったが、読後感は清々しい。
とても読みやすい英語なのもよかった。
Report