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*Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature*

This is a YA novel with a powerful message spanning across several thematic thresholds. What is the truth worth? Who is accountable for the lives of the lost? Can we hold ourselves responsible for acts of inhumanity if we are not actively speaking up? If we don’t, then who will?

“If we are to be more than what we have been, there’s so much more that we need to say.”

“I am not truly Filipino, so I don’t understand the Philippines. But isn’t this deeper than that, doesn’t this transcend nationality? Isn’t there some sense of right and wrong about how human beings should be treated that applies no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak?”

Jay, an eighteen-year-old half-Filipino half-American, travels back to the Philippines from Michigan during his senior year in high school after learning about the death of his cousin, Yun, to drugs. No one will answer his questions concerning his cousin’s death, so he chooses to find the answers himself by travelling to the Philippines to visit with his and Yun’s family concerning the mysterious death. While seeking answers in the Philippines, Jay finds a homeland that he no longer recognizes. Jay struggles to identify with a culture that he has forgotten and finds conflict not only within the country, but within his Filipino family. Why isn’t anyone mourning the death of Yun? What really happened, and why won’t anyone tell him the truth?

“It strikes me that I cannot claim this country’s serene coves and sun-soaked beaches without also claiming its poverty, its problems, its history.”

Throughout his trip staying with family members and searching for answers, the reader is taken on a cultural journey. I learned a lot from this piece of fiction, especially about policies enforced by President Duterte, and plan to read some of the nonfiction articles in the “Recommended Reading” section provided by Randy Ribay in the back of this book.

This is a great book for YA readers, and I recommend it.
Topics include: drugs, sensationalism, trafficking, nationalism, injustice, existence, family, poverty, political thought/policies

This is taken from the book, *Patron Saints of Nothing*.

Visit Randy Ribay‘s site to learn more and see upcoming events.

|Purchase on Amazon | Goodreads Review|

“People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.”

I absolutely loved this novel compromised of short stories. Taken from your normal everyday situations, the lush phrases and varied character dimensions created an emotional and heartfelt journey of small-town people experiencing small changes in life that often have the biggest impact. At times, I wanted to eat the words off the page.

An appearance from Olive Kitteridge in each short story is what makes for such an enjoyable read. Her character orbits around her strong personality and unparalleled voice. Each story begs the spirit to rekindle emotions that make us appreciate life, although most stories are sad, melancholy, or starkly realistic.

“…that one of those things getting older was knowing that so many moments weren’t just moments, they were gifts.”

It is deeply expressive to the value of life and how the beauty of the world changes as we do. Respectfully, I do feel like you must be a certain age or experienced certain things in order to truly appreciate this piece of literature to its full capacity.

I recommend this piece of literature for those who enjoy contemporary American fiction, short stories, and psychological literary fiction.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. To read more about this, click here.