I FEEL SEEN. I HATE THAT PHRASE BUT IT HAS NEVER APPLIED MORE IN MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFEEEE.
This book was so on point i do not know what to do with myself
- The cultural nuances were totally accurate
- Jay’s voice as a teen and a mixed race teen was on point
- Ribay hit a great balance of explaining what the average reader wouldn’t know without explaining everything to death
- oh also IT IS A HALF FILIPINO HALF WHITE MAIN CHARACTER AND ALL THE FEELINGS ARE COMPLETELY ACCURATE
- the inner conflict jay constantly feels trying to figure out his identity, oh god i’m gonna start crying again
IF I HEAR ONE MORE PERSON SAY WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER ASIAN TEEN COMING-OF-AGE STORY YOU CAN EFF OFF. (And feel free to replace Asian with any underrepresented group, it holds true, but obvi the Asian representation speaks to me on a personal level.) Oh, are there “too many” “too similar” books for you on second-generation Asian teen trying to learn how to live in America and still retain their Asian identity, or Asian-American teens going back to the motherland? Screw all y’all. A. They are not all the same story, thank you and B. even if they were, forgive us for wanting more books that make us feel like we belong to a community. I only had Claudia Kishi growing up, Mulan didn’t come out til I was a teenager, and you bet your butt there were VERY few mixed-race characters (and if there were, they were a plot device and never a character in their own right).
In Patron Saints of Nothing, Jay (the half-white, half-Filipino narrator) says “Screw anyone who tries to tell you who you are and where you belong.” WE decide how to define ourselves, how much to celebrate our diversity, and when it’s “enough.” WE NEED ALL THE DIVERSE BOOKS.
This book was so on point i do not know what to do with myself
- The cultural nuances were totally accurate
- Jay’s voice as a teen and a mixed race teen was on point
- Ribay hit a great balance of explaining what the average reader wouldn’t know without explaining everything to death
- oh also IT IS A HALF FILIPINO HALF WHITE MAIN CHARACTER AND ALL THE FEELINGS ARE COMPLETELY ACCURATE
- the inner conflict jay constantly feels trying to figure out his identity, oh god i’m gonna start crying again
IF I HEAR ONE MORE PERSON SAY WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER ASIAN TEEN COMING-OF-AGE STORY YOU CAN EFF OFF. (And feel free to replace Asian with any underrepresented group, it holds true, but obvi the Asian representation speaks to me on a personal level.) Oh, are there “too many” “too similar” books for you on second-generation Asian teen trying to learn how to live in America and still retain their Asian identity, or Asian-American teens going back to the motherland? Screw all y’all. A. They are not all the same story, thank you and B. even if they were, forgive us for wanting more books that make us feel like we belong to a community. I only had Claudia Kishi growing up, Mulan didn’t come out til I was a teenager, and you bet your butt there were VERY few mixed-race characters (and if there were, they were a plot device and never a character in their own right).
In Patron Saints of Nothing, Jay (the half-white, half-Filipino narrator) says “Screw anyone who tries to tell you who you are and where you belong.” WE decide how to define ourselves, how much to celebrate our diversity, and when it’s “enough.” WE NEED ALL THE DIVERSE BOOKS.