A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.
"Brilliant, honest, and equal parts heartbreaking and soul-healing." --Laurie Halse Anderson, author of SHOUT "A singular voice in the world of literature." --Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way DownJay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.
Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.
As gripping as it is lyrical,
Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.
Randy Ribay was born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest. He is the author of
After the Shot Drops and
An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. He earned his BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his Master's Degree in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He currently teaches English and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A National Book Award Finalist
An NPR Best Book of the Year
An NBC News Best Asian American Young Adult Book of the Year
A Paste Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Top 10 Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A USA Today Best Book of the Year So Far
A Raleigh News & Observer Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild audio selection
National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) Freeman Book Award Winner
An L.A. Times Book Award Nominee
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award 2021-2022
MISelf in Books 2020 Book List (Michigan)
FIVE STARRED REVIEWS
"Powerful and courageous." --
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Deep, nuanced, and painfully real."
--Booklist, starred review
"A perfect convergence of authentic voice and an emphasis on inner dialogue." --
School Library Journal, starred review
"Passionately and fearlessly, Ribay delves into matters of justice, grief, and identity." --
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Compelling and informational" --
VOYA Magazine, starred review
“A must-read.” – Erin Entrada Kelly, author of 2018 Newbery Award-winning
Hello, Universe “Lyrical. Stunning. Searing…The real deal.”– Mark Oshiro, author of
Anger Is a Gift “Riveting, brilliantly told and deeply moving." – Francisco X. Stork, author of
Disappeared “Complex, gripping, haunting and deeply human… a story alive with longing and pain and grace. – Kelly Gilbert, author of
Picture Us In The Light
