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

by Kelly Yang

I hugged the humongous trash bag of money and cried. I cried for all the motel essay contest applicants, who once again, failed to get a motel. I cried for young Hank, getting pushed around by all those mean kids, and old Hank, forty years later, still getting treated unfairly, and for Lupe’s dad, boiling away on the roof every single day under the blistering sun. I cried for Mr. Abayan, the convenience store guy from the Philippines, and Mr. Bhagawati, the laundry guy, with his raisiny fingers and hunched back washing bundle after bundle of clothes. I cried for Uncle Zhang, poor Uncle Zhang, who had no money but still insisted on contributing because it was so important to him to help us in our hour of need.