Key Player

LoveReading4Kids Says

October 2022 Book of the Month

“Don’t wait to follow your dreams.” That’s one of the inspirational messages that ripples through Key Player alongside a rainbow of resonant themes. Kelly Yang’s fourth Front Desk novel is a perfectly-pitched addition to a Middle Grade series that strikes goal after goal — Yang has an incredible knack for packing pertinent themes into her gloriously engaging stories. 

In the case of Key Player, as Mia is growing up, as the Women’s World Cup comes to California, African American Hank is forced to fight a bigtime restaurant that’s stolen his burger recipe. Jason must deal with the emotional issues his dad had with his grandfather. Lupe wonders whether she likes girls and, while Mia’s mum is now a maths teacher, being Chinese is still seen as an impediment, and her parents’ face racism when they try to realise their American Dream of owning a home.

As for Mia, she’s still grappling with being American and Chinese. Forced to fight bigotry and accusations of being a traitor when she decides to support China ahead of a World Cup clash between Team USA and Team China, she refuses to back down. Through all the set-backs there’s a rousing sense of community and love (“When one of us got hurt, all of us got hurt”) and, true to form, Mia makes magic happen. 

What a book, what a series — go Team Mia!

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen is a writer, reviewer and workshop presenter whose lifelong love of books began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
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