 |
| Image: Penguin Random House |
Teen Tuesday features Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. Jay Reguero is a bit at sea. He is a high school senior in Michigan and has been accepted to University of Michigan, but none of his preferred schools. He's not sure what he wants to study. Then he receives news that his cousin, Jun, died in the Philippines. HIs Filipino father is his usual terse self when Jay asked what happened. His white mother explains later that Jun was using drugs and was murdered because President Duterte's answer to the drug problem in the Philippines is to kill users and dealers without remorse. This wasn't the Jun that Jay came to admire when the family visited some years earlier. They felt like brothers and communicated via letters for years until Jay abruptly stopped writing. Now Jay wants to extend his spring break to travel to Manila to find out the truth.
Part mystery, part coming-of-age story and totally intriguing, mature teen readers will explore what it means to belong to a culture, and learn about the brutal policies of a President with zero tolerance for drug use and citizens who speak out against his policies. Patron Saints of Nothing was a National Book Award Finalist.
No comments:
Post a Comment