NZ Intermediate School Librarians discussion

A heart warming and heart wrenching story. Mia Tang is 9 yrs old when her parents leave China and arrive in the USA with $200 hoping for a better life. But instead they find themselves living in poverty with no apparent way to improve their situation. They encounter prejudice and racism. Mia's parents get a job managing the Calivista Motel which seems like a great opportunity, but the hard hearted owner Mr Yao makes the job very tough and almost impossible for the family to earn a living wage. Mia works on the Front Desk when she is not at school and comes up with a number of schemes to try to help her family's situation - with mixed results! But ultimately she helps others along the way and in the end they receive the support of the community. Based on the author's real life experiences. Themes of racism, bullying, poverty, people pulling together. I think this would make a great read aloud. Highly recommended.