Key Player

Content Warning: This section of the guide features depictions of racism, gender discrimination, illness and death, and bullying.

Sixth-grader Mia Tang is the protagonist and point-of-view character of the novel. With long black hair, gangly limbs, and clothing purchased on sale, Mia struggles to reconcile her Chinese heritage with her American upbringing. Mia’s family immigrated to Anaheim, California, and began working in a motel called the Calivista when Mia was 10. She helped her parents by working the front desk, and eventually the Tangs were able to buy the motel from the previous owner. Mia is smart, tenacious, and inquisitive. She loves to write and dreams of being a journalist. She has already built up a school paper and writes a weekly column for students in China. Despite all her accomplishments, Mia constantly has to deal with peers and teachers who underestimate and discount her.

In Key Player, Mia struggles to reconcile the two sides of her Chinese American identity, introducing the novel’s thematic exploration of Navigating Hybrid Immigrant Identities. As the US vs. China World Cup game approaches, Mia feels pulled in two directions. She wants to achieve her version of the American Dream, to pursue her writing dreams and live with her parents in comfortable house with a yard and a dog.