Patron Saints of Nothing

Randy Ribay

Jun 2019 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

"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 Down

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.

Jay 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.

Ratings and reviews

FANTASTIC! Of all of the books I've read this year, I connected with this one the most! Patron Saints of Nothing follows Jay on his adventure to discover his homeland, his family, but most importantly the truth about his cousin Jun's murder. "There are moments when sharing silence can be more meaningful than filling a space with empty chatter." It's a cliche, but I truly could not put this book down! It's a roller coaster of emotion and twists as Jay journeys through middle-class homes, slums, and the countryside of the Philipines in order to find out what actually happened to his cousin. Along the way, he faces his shattered family's pride, injustice, and the harsh realities of extreme poverty. A huge thanks to Bookish and the publisher for my copy!

This book feels like it is made especially for Fil-Am folks. I am 3rd generation Filipino-American and never felt Filipino enough. The protagonist of this book starts out feeling the same way, and it's deeply relateable. But by the end of the book, I had learned so much about Filipino people, culture, food, the government, the good, and the bad. It was educational but also familiar in a very special way. This was all intertwined with a deeply moving and multidimensional story inspired by real life in the Philippines. It is a lesson in empathy and seeing the worth and power in every human life no matter our complexity.

I haven't read a book that made me feel like this in years. I couldn't wait to read it after work and I connected so deeply with the story of a Filipino American boy finding his roots and yearning to learn more and do more. Also, the fact that it highlights the current situation of the Philippines and the conflicting mindsets of those who are from the motherland and those from the States was so real and so relateable. I loved this book and it touched my heart as a Filipino American who learned to love his culture through his own journey in their transition to Adulthood. Thank you for writing this!

About the author

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.