If you’re looking for a book to do a novel study with your class that shows a child’s perspective of how it feels to move across the world into a new and different culture, Front Desk by Kelly Yang is your book!

The novel starts by introducing us to a 10-year-old girl named Mia. She has recently moved to California from China with her parents. When they first arrive in America, the family is living out of their car trying to make ends meet. Just when Mia is starting to lose hope, the family catches a big break, or so they think! Overseeing a motel where the family can live sounds like a great idea, until they meet the owner of the motel and his son. The rest is yours to discover.

This book connects to many concepts within the Intermediate Language curriculum and some of the Social Studies curriculum. For Language, teachers can make connections to oral communication by assigning an oral presentation or reading out loud during class time. The reading aspect of the curriculum could also be met by assigning readings and quizzing the students about what they have read. There are also aspects of the story that could be explored with the Social Studies curriculum.

This chapter book is ideal for students in grades 4 to 6, who might relate to the similarly aged main character. Intermediate students could read this book individually or it could be read as a whole class.

Front Desk is a great book for insight into the experiences that many people have as immigrants and refugees. The struggles that Mia goes through are relatable and can be placed within the many different contexts of each students’ lives.

Vanessa Blendea is a member of the Greater Essex County Occasional Teacher Local.