by Samantha White
Northwest Asia Weekly
front desk
Kaili Yang
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2018
Things started to improve for Mia Tang and her parents. Two years after arriving in the US, they switched from living in a car to running and living at the Calivista Motel in Anaheim, California. While her parents focus on cleaning, 10-year-old Mia runs the front desk and looks after their guests.
Mia’s parents also hid the migrants and let them live in empty motel rooms for free – but if the motel owner, Mr Yao, found out, the family would be doomed.
“Front Desk” is an immigrant story told from the perspective of a little girl, based on some of Yang’s real life experiences as a child. Mia’s story will stay with you after you put down the book. She is strong and independent, with a strong sense of right and wrong. My favorite moment is when she stands up to anyone trying to make her or anyone else feel small. Mia knows when people do something wrong, and is brave enough to call them — usually adults — out.
One of the reasons the story was asked to be removed from the school was its portrayal of a police officer who racially profiled her friend Hank, who is black and lives in Calivista One of the “Weekly”. I’m always grateful when books for young people don’t whitewash the realities of life. Just because they’re young doesn’t mean they haven’t been treated unfairly. Often kids, especially BIPOC kids and those with immigrant backgrounds, get involved — and Young knows that, and paints it in an age-appropriate way.
Yes, the racism, bullying, and exploitation of vulnerable people Mia encounters may make readers uncomfortable. But that doesn’t mean we should shy away from her story. Instead, we need to ask why we feel uncomfortable and what we can do to fix them.
Dragon Wing
Lawrence yes
Harper & Law, 1975
At the age of 8, Yueying traveled across the ocean from China and came to San Francisco to meet her father Windrider. It’s 1903 and Windrider was in America before Moonshadow was born, so this is the first time father and son have met. Moon Shadow joins his father to work in a laundromat owned by other Chinese, but he soon learns that Windrider’s dream is to build flying machines like the Wright brothers.
Despite enduring ridicule from other Chinese, poverty, separation from his wife, and even an earthquake, Wind Rider is determined – and Moon Shadow is determined to help him.
Inspired by Feng Qiaogai, a Chinese immigrant who built flying machines in 1909, “Dragon Wings” tells the story of the struggles and dreams of an immigrant with anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiments. From white people’s racist attitudes, to references to the Chinese Exclusion Act and lynchings, Yep gives readers an insight into the problems immigrants faced at the time as they tried to survive in a country that happily exploited their workforce but didn’t value their human beings.
The Chinese characters in the book refer to the white people as “devils” (though once Yueying got to know some of them, he started calling them by their first names), which is one of the reasons why “Dragon Wing” was challenged to be removed from the school. But it’s understandable when you read about how the Chinese were abused and the constant danger they felt. This country is built on oppression and violence. But the story is mostly told through the eyes of the oppressed, so when it’s told from the point of view of the oppressed, it certainly won’t be pretty — which is more of why these stories need to be told. Moon Shadow reminds readers of all ages that history has multiple sides and shows us the importance of knowing all of them.
last night at the telegraph club
by Malin Darrow
Dutton Books, 2021
Ever since she was a child, Hu Li felt that she was a little different. That “thing” fell into place when she discovered a book about two women falling in love. Thus began the 17-year-old’s journey of self-discovery.
Joining her on the journey is Kathleen Miller, who was just another girl in math class before that. But once the two girls visit a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club, Kath slowly becomes more important to Lily.
“The Telegraph Club” takes place in San Francisco in 1954 – an unsafe time for two girls to fall in love, especially in Chinatown. On top of that, the paranoia of the Red Scare has nervous many in the local Chinese-American community, including Lily’s family, who are threatened with her father’s citizenship because of their impending deportation.
Lily is a strong young woman with unwavering integrity. When faced with difficult situations, she chooses the path that works for her, rather than the easier path—for herself and others—even if the outcome is heartbreaking (as it usually is). What she sacrifices for her true self makes readers question what they would do if they were in the same situation.
Because The Telegraph Club is about a romance between two young women, it is challenged by being expelled from school. Given that Lily’s story takes place in the 1950s — still scary, but unsurprisingly, the prejudices Lily faces in the story about being herself and loving the people she loves aren’t surprising. But seeing her and Kath’s stories face similar attempts at obliteration today reminds us how far society has to go in accepting those who are seen as “different.” That’s why this story and others like it need to exist.
Samantha is available at info@nwasianweekly.com.
