Three Keys

Lupe is Mia’s best friend and classmate. She is also 11, a whiz at math, and wants to be an artist when she grows up. In the first book in the series, Lupe acted as Mia’s guide in navigating American culture because the Garcia family had already been in America for eight years.

However, Lupe needs Mia’s help in this story because her mother is stranded in Mexico, and her father has been arrested as an unauthorized immigrant. Lupe struggles with the stigma of being an undocumented immigrant and only shakes off her fear and self-doubt at the novel’s end.

Like Mia, Jason is 11 years old and a Chinese immigrant. However, he has led a privileged life as the son of Mr. Yao, who once owned the Calivista Motel. Jason suffers some bullying at school because he is Chinese but far less than Mia or Lupe. Jason shows great potential as a chef, but he faces opposition from his parents when he wants to take cooking lessons.

Jason also has a conflicted relationship with Mia and Lupe because his family is wealthy and already American citizens. The two girls think he can’t understand their hardships, but Jason proves his empathy throughout the novel. The three kids patch up their differences by the end of the story and become inseparable.

Hank is one of the regular tenants at the motel. He is a middle-aged African American man who has experienced racial prejudice throughout his life. However, Hank is optimistic about the future and finds ways to attract more business to the motel. The Tangs eventually hire him as their marketing director.

Whenever Mia is troubled, she comes to Hank for advice. He usually manages to help her see things from a more mature perspective. Hank’s greatest contribution is to help mend the broken relationships among Mia, Lupe, and Jason.

Mrs. Welch is the girls’ prim sixth-grade teacher. At the beginning of the novel, she favors Proposition 187 and seems slightly prejudiced toward the immigrant students in her class. Mrs. Welch herself has known discrimination since she has a doctorate but was passed over for tenure in favor of her male colleagues.

While Mrs. Welsh is strict, she is also committed to helping Mia improve her writing skills and works one-on-one with the girl. By the end of the story, she has formed a much more favorable opinion of immigrants and is proud of Mia’s developing skills as a writer.

Mia’s parents now own the motel where they used to work. They are slowly improving their financial position but still spend all their time keeping the motel running. In China, Mr. Tang was a geneticist, and Mrs. Tang was an electrical engineer, but both now toil at menial tasks to manage the Calivista. Mrs. Tang feels the frustration of the situation more than her husband. By the end of the novel, the motel business is doing well enough to take a certification exam to teach high school math.

The Yaos represent the opposite end of the spectrum from the Tangs. They are Chinese immigrants who have achieved the American dream. The Yaos are wealthy and materialistic. Mr. Yao looks down on his former employees, and Mrs. Yao doesn’t like her son befriending servants like Lupe.

When Mr. Yao’s business goes into decline, the family is forced to move into a much smaller house. By the end of the story, Yao finally acknowledges his respect for the Tang family’s success. This validation means a great deal to Mia.