Front Desk: Chapters 1–18

by Kelly Yang
Ten-year-old Mia Tang lives and works at the motel where her immigrant parents are employed. Together, Mia and her family strive to make a better life for themselves — and for other immigrants in their community.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–18, Chapters 19–27, Chapters 28–47, Chapters 48–67
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. module
    detachable compartment of a spacecraft
    She was an engineer back in China, so she loves math and rockets. She oohed and aahed over this module and that module.
  2. wok
    a frying pan with a convex bottom; used in Chinese cooking
    I think he got them from frying food all day long in the sizzling wok.
  3. pulsate
    move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
    “Yes, sir!” I said. Excitement pulsated in my ear. My first job! I was determined not to let him down.
  4. pore
    direct one's attention on something
    She pored over the jobs section with a magnifying glass like a scientist.
  5. accent
    distinctive manner of oral expression
    She smiled at Mr. Yao. “Your son’s English is so good.” She turned to me. “Hear that, Mia? No accent.”
  6. humongous
    very large
    It was a humongous amount of money.
  7. bottom line
    the crucial or decisive point
    “The bottom line is, don’t let in any bad guys!” Mr. Yao warned.
  8. hierarchy
    a series of ordered groupings within a system
    In science class at my last school, I learned that if you want a mammal to do something, you should stare at it. That’s because mammals are social creatures and we’re really into hierarchy.
  9. smug
    marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction
    On their way out, Jason leaned over. He had a smug look on his face.
  10. spare
    kept in reserve especially for emergency use
    Sure enough, there were thirty official spare keys inside, one for each room.
  11. assortment
    a collection containing a variety of kinds of things
    It wasn’t actually much of a machine, more like an assortment of blank keys, needles, pins, and files with a big metal thing to keep the key in place as you worked on it.
  12. modest
    not large but sufficient in size or amount
    I looked around the room. There was a bed, dresser, television, small table, and chair. It was modest, sure. But what else did he need?
  13. earful
    a severe scolding
    I’d taken the toilet paper off and replaced it with a proper Band-Aid my mom gave me (along with an earful on how I should have waited for her).
  14. concur
    be in agreement
    “Shibas are the hardest to train, because they’re so smart,” she informed me. I nodded politely and concurred that training was very important.
  15. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    It didn’t take long before the laundry room was teeming with towels.
  16. usage
    the act of employing
    They vowed to limit their towel usage to one towel a day until the new washer arrived.
  17. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    Gingerly, I lifted the saltine burger to my mouth and took a bite.
  18. brace
    prepare for something unpleasant or difficult
    We froze when we saw her, bracing for a lecture, but when I peeked at her face, I didn’t find a frown.
  19. reminisce
    recall the past
    After dinner, while my parents and Uncle Ming reminisced about China, I slipped out the back door.
  20. deliberation
    careful consideration
    The manager looked at Uncle Ming for a while, and after much deliberation, he sighed.
  21. spruce
    make neat, smart, or trim
    Mr. Yao may be an unbelievable cheapskate, but there were some free things we could do to spruce up the place, like putting flyers out for local establishments.
  22. rancid
    having an offensive smell or taste
    His rancid breath stung my eyes.
  23. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    I thought of my cousin Shen, how the two of us used to get all dressed up for piano recitals, me in my silk qipao and him in his embroidered changshan.
  24. jolt
    move or cause to move with a sudden jerky motion
    I thought about my father, robbed of sleep, jolted awake by customers, night after night.
  25. lurch
    move abruptly
    The small figure made its way over to me. When I saw who it was, my stomach lurched.
  26. riveting
    capable of arousing and holding the attention
    Each night was filled with delicious food and riveting stories about customers and things like their weird sauce requests (one guy insisted on burgers with ketchup and jam).
  27. alloy
    a mixture containing two or more metallic elements
    Then we went over to the lake, where we sat and went over them, one by one, trying to find the one special penny we’d been on the lookout for as long as I can remember. It was the 1943 copper alloy penny.
  28. dispatch
    send away towards a designated goal
    He immediately dispatched his cable repairman to the motel, a guy named José.
  29. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    “We’re going to have to get off the roller coaster first,” Lupe said. I furrowed my eyebrows.
    “What roller coaster?” I asked.
  30. criterion
    the ideal in terms of which something can be judged
    I was curious what Lupe thought of as “successful.” Everybody seemed to have different criteria.
Created on Tue Jan 29 12:11:51 EST 2019 (updated Tue Jan 29 14:07:34 EST 2019)

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