Front Desk (Front Desk #1) (Scholastic Gold)

by Kelly Yang

I was curious what Lupe thought of as “successful.” Everybody seemed to have different criteria. I used to think being successful meant having enough to eat, but now that I was getting free lunch at school, I wondered if I should set my standards higher.

“You said bad people, not black people.” “Any idiot knows—black people are dangerous,” Mr. Yao said. “That’s not true!” I was stunned. “Hank’s not dangerous. For one.” I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Yao. “You’re the one who’s dangerous.” “Mia,” my dad said. Nervously, my dad turned to Mr. Yao. “Sir, we can’t judge someone based on their skin color. It isn’t right. This is America.”

The point was sometimes, you have to take matters into your own hands. And you have to be creative to get what you want.

My parents said that during the Cultural Revolution, my grandparents were locked up and shipped away. It didn’t matter whether they actually did anything wrong. “That’s why we left, so that something like that wouldn’t happen to you,” my dad said. “Tonight, seeing that police officer arrest Mr. Lorenz and actually come back here and apologize to Hank—okay, he didn’t really want to apologize, but still, he did—I know I made the right decision. America may not be perfect, but she’s free. And that makes all the difference.” I finally understood what my parents meant by “free.”

I wanted to shake him and say, You’re not getting it! That’s not what “free” means! Free means innocent until proven guilty, not guilty no matter how innocent.

Dear stores, I know that the security guard from the Topaz Inn gave you a list of “bad customers.” But it is not actually a list of bad customers. It is a list of black customers. He puts put them on the list because he seem seems to think that all black customers are bad. But that’s (1) not true and (2) incredibly mean discriminatory. I know it is not true because my good friend is black and he is one of the kindest people I know. Also, I just solved a case involve involving a stolen car and guess what? The thief was not black. Actually, he wasn’t even a thief. He was the owner. That just goes to show—you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. So I am asking you to please tear up the list. Let’s treet treat all our customers with kindness and respect and not judge anyone by the color of their skin. If you have any questions, please call me at 555-281-0482. Sincerely, Mia Tang Assistant Manager Calivista Motel

I could write a book on what it’s like to have no money. You know what else I know? That’s no excuse to treat other people like dirt!”

Panic seized me. The words were so open and exposed. My story looked like a belly button. I immediately wanted to cover it. Then I remembered something. The itching and wriggling, like a spider was crawling underneath my skin—I’d seen it somewhere before. Where had I seen it? Oh, yes, I remember. It was on Uncle Zhang’s face when he told us he was a modern slave. It was on Hank’s face too when he finally opened up to me about why nobody wanted to hire him. And look what happened! Their lives changed. If I wanted my life to change, I too needed to get past the itchy, wriggly feeling.

You are not alone. Somewhere out there, someone in the universe understands exactly what you’re going through, including all the fears swirling in your mind or your parents’ minds that you’re just a bike. You are NOT a bike. Finally, I hope that through this book, more people will understand the importance of tolerance and diversity. The owner of one of the motels we managed told us not to rent to African Americans, saying they were dangerous. This infuriated us, and we did not listen. To this day, my family and I are forever grateful to the many, many wonderful people from all different backgrounds who made us feel welcome in our new country and helped us in times of need. Often during tough times, the first instinct is to exclude. But this book is about what happens when you include, when, despite all your suffering and your heartache, you still wake up every morning and look out at the world with fresh, curious eyes.