A Case Study:
Text Evaluation of “Front Desk” by Kelly Yang
Quality: This novel is classified as realistic fiction for the middle grades. It won the 2019 Asian / Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature Award and the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal Fiction Award Winner and Best Book of the Year by NPR, Washington Post, and others. Its high quality has been deemed by these highly acclaimed awards and the many good reviews that it received.
The quality is found in the complexity of themes this middle-grade fiction has. The author was able to explain in terms of the character’s development, the main character’s perspective, her thought processes and actions to combat and confront racism in various ways. It also confronts stereotypes. Mia’s superpower is through writing, not math, as most Asian American kids are always portrayed as always being good at Math.
Language/Speech: I found no derogatory terms in this book, only references to racism that isn’t said by derogatory terms but inferences such as Mr. Yao’s description of black people as bad people. The author’s voice is straight forward which makes it easy to follow even when the book contains heavy themes such as racism and social injustices such as the poverty rollercoaster analogy Mia’s Latinx bestie, Lupe, explains: “We’re on a different rollercoaster. On our rollercoaster, our parents don’t have any money. So, we can’t go to good schools and then we can’t get good jobs. So, then our kids can’t go to good schools, they can’t get good jobs, and so on and so forth” (82).
Characters’ Development: There is good character development in this story. Mia Tang, the story’s protagonist is on a hero’s journey at a mere 8 years old who evolves through her challenges and follies. Her parents grow wiser and supportive despite their own setbacks. They became risk-takers and inventive when they devise plans to hide immigrants in one the motel’s rooms and agree with Mia on her idea getting everyone in the community to become investors to help them plan to buy the motel from Mr. Yao. Hank, the African American who was accused of stealing and lost his job, finds justice. Justin, Mr. Yao’s son, who was Mia’s nemesis comes around in the end. Mr. Yao himself who was also the family’s nemesis finds redemption by softening up in the end for finally agreeing to sell Calivista Motel to the Yang’s and their community investors. Lupe, who was a classmate became Mia’s best friend and confidant who inevitably shares her own family’s struggle as Mexican immigrants and offers insight to Mia regarding social injustices.
Cultural Background: Mia Tang is a character based loosely on Kelly Yang, the author’s own life. Her family also ran a motel. Therefore, as a Chinese immigrant telling a story through Chinese immigrant’s life is #ownvoice.
Lifestyle: I believe all are realistic as Chinese immigrants in the U.S. during the 90s. I didn’t find anything overly simplified. In fact, there were complexities and layers within the depiction of lifestyle.
Does it celebrate the culture portrayed? Yes. Mia Tang, the main character often reflects her life back in China with great reverence (and sometimes critique, particularly on gender roles) and often compares the differences between the U.S. and China. Mia revered her culture because every immigrant that they hid at Calivista was called an auntie or uncle, a sign of respect and reverence, an honorific. Missing their cultural foods because they didn’t have the money to make them was a sign of reverence to their culture.
References:
Yang, Kelly. Front Desk. , 2018. Print.
Top 5 Filipino American Book List
The books I present to you this week are actually by authors whom I know personally and professionally. I belong to a close knit Filipino American writers community and most of these writers are also poets and writers in adult literary fiction that crossed over to the YA and middle grade market. I hope you check them out and add them to your list!
Growing Up Filipino Anthology, Edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
This is a timeless collection of stories from 39 Filipino American writers that share personal experiences and perspectives about growing up in Filipino American. This also has an index of various Filipino words and expressions and their translations.
I have known Cecilia for quite some time because Cecilia has published many of her own books as well. It was great meeting her at the Filipino Book Fest in October 2019.
“In this fine short-story collection, 29 Filipino American writers explore the universal challenges of adolescence from the unique perspectives of teens in the Philippines or in the U.S. Organized into five sections–Family, Angst, Friendship, Love, and Home–all the stories are about growing up and what the introduction calls “growing into Filipino-ness, growing with Filipinos, and growing in or growing away from the Philippines.”… The stories are delightful! (Booklist)
https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Up-Filipino-Stories-Adults/dp/0971945802 (Links to an external site.)
I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib
“Malaka Gharib’s triumphant graphic memoir brings to life her teenage antics and illuminates earnest questions about identity and culture, while providing thoughtful insight into the lives of modern immigrants and the generation of millennial children they raised. Malaka’s story is a heartfelt tribute to the American immigrants who have invested their future in the promise of the American dream.” – Penguin Random House
Malaka sat next to me on the left, my right, (with the ponytail) on our writer’s panel at the FilAM Book Fest, October 2019 in San Francisco. Photo taken by my daughter.
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
“A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder.”-Penguin Random House
Bought his book along with Malaka’s at the FilAm Bookfest.
Lakas and the Manilatown Fish by Tony Robles
“Can a fish talk? Can it jump and play and run-especially run-just like a small boy? When Lakas and his dad go shopping, they meet a very special fish that can do all these things and more. This fish won’t stay put in his fish tank! Once it leaps out, a cast of unusual Manilatown characters chases it down Kearny Street and all the way to San Francisco Bay. Hoy, hoy! Will Lakas and his friends ever catch this sly and charming fish? Will Lakas’s dearest wish come true?
In this first-ever bilingual English-Tagalog story set in the U.S., an all-American boy of Filipino descent, some amusing manongs-Filipino elders-and a fish with unusual faculties take off on a fanciful romp through a dreamscape of the imagination. Author Anthony D. Robles’s irrepressibly lively characters and improbably funny adventure will delight readers. Artist Carl Angel’s evocative illustrations leap off the page and pay affectionate homage to one neighborhood’s Filipino-American past.” — Lee and Low
https://www.leeandlow.com/books/lakas-and-the-manilatown-fishnow (Links to an external site.)
Tony Robles reading his book to the children of San Francisco Public Library at the FilAm Book Fest, October 2019. Photo taken by me. I know Tony for a long time now. He is also a poet and I had featured him on my podcast. http://yourartsygirlpodcast.com (Links to an external site.). In fact, do look out for our interview this week. I haven’t posted it just yet! We talk about his children’s books, too.
Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel by Tony Robles
This is Tony’s second children’s book through Lee and Low. Lakas has the likeness of Tony’s own son, he said in our podcast interview.
“When Lakas strolls through his neighborhood one sunny afternoon, the last thing he expects to find is a group of drum-beating, tap-dancing, karaoke-singing new friends. But these new friends face a crisis: the Makibaka Hotel, where they make their home, is about to be sold. They must pack their belongings and leave their home in thirty days. Unless….
Lakas soon leads his new friends Tick A. Boom, Firefoot, and Fernando the Karaoke King in a rollicking protest against their eviction. Before long the streets of the neighborhood reverberate with the taps, raps, and chants of Makibaka-of struggle, spirit, and laughter.
Carl Angel’s vivid paintings sparkle with the rhythm of the city in this second bilingual collaboration with poet and author Anthony D. Robles. Join them and Lakas on this new adventure, which transforms one community’s struggle into a celebration of activism, spirit, and song.” Lee and Low
https://www.leeandlow.com/books/lakas-and-the-makibaka-hotel
By the Stacks 