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

by Kelly Yang

I wondered if I worked really hard, would I also be able to speak native English one day? Or was that something completely off-limits for me?

every time something good happened, my mom would take out a few leaves and make some tea. I guess not a lot of good things had happened because there was still quite a lot left.

She looked like what my mother calls a “powerful white lady.”

The next time a customer came in and asked to see the manager, I pointed to the sign. And I stared really hard at him. In science class at my last school, I learned that if you want a mammal to do something, you should stare at it.

I wondered which was better—to have had something for just a second and then have it taken away, or to have never had it at all.

Any adult who says the words don’t touch to a kid should know it’s an open invitation to touch it. I accepted my mom’s invitation and picked up one of the blank keys.

LMFAO

But I had this thing where if I started something, I had to finish it.

Why was it that everything in America had to do with money? People wouldn’t give you back your key unless you charged them a deposit. They’d hold a simple mistake over your head unless you gave them a free soda.

I missed Popsicle Grandpa. There was no one like that here. Here, everything had a price, even kindness.

It’s going to be okay. I’ll make friends, and if I don’t, I’ll borrow books from the library.

The hot California sun blazed down on me, yet I felt no warmth.