Patron Saints of Nothing book cover
9-12

Patron Saints of Nothing

By Randy Ribay

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.

Educator Resources

State Awards

Recommended reading lists from your state's teacher or librarian associations!
  • Wisconsin
    • Just One More Page!, 2020
  • Oklahoma
    • Sequoyah High School Book Award 2021
  • Pennsylvania
    • Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, 2020-2021
  • Texas
    • TAYSHAS Reading List, 2020
  • Washington D.C.
    • Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles, 2020
  • Florida
    • Florida Teens Read Award, 2020-2021
  • Vermont
    • Green Mountain Book Award, 2020-2021
  • Illinois
    • Lincoln Book Award, 2021
  • Mississippi
    • Magnolia Book Award 2021
  • Rhode Island
    • Rhode Island Teen Book Award, 2021
  • Iowa
    • Teen All Iowa Reads, 2021
  • California
    • Westchester Fiction Award, 2020
    • Northern California Book Award, 2020
    • California Young Reader Medal, 2021-2022
  • Indiana
    • Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award, 2021-2022
    • Indiana Read Aloud 2021
  • Michigan
    • Great Lakes Great Books, 2020-2021
  • Maine
    • North Star Young Adult Book Award, 2019
  • Tennessee
    • Volunteer State Book Award 2020-2021
  • Oregon
    • Oregon Young Readers Choice Award 2022

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