Ten-year-old Mia and her parents are adjusting to life in America after emigrating from China two years earlier. Mia says, “My parents told me that America would be this amazing place where we could live in a house with a dog, do whatever we want, and eat hamburgers till we were red in the face” (1). Life turns out to be a little more challenging than the family expects. Mia’s father works as a cook in a Chinese restaurant where he gets burned with grease every day. Mia’s mother and Mia both get fired from the same restaurant after Mia breaks a few plates. The three are living in their car until they answer an ad to manage a motel in Anaheim, California. The owner is Mr. Yao, who promises them $150 per day and free lodging. Mia’s parents jump at the prospect. 

The Tang family is shown their duties at the motel by Yao. He points out the bullet-proof glass surrounding the office and an emergency buzzer under the counter to lock out bad people. Later, Mia meets one of the weekly renters—a middle-aged African American man named Hank Caleb. She likes him and confides that Yao seems all right, too.