7 Best teen books like Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

Cover of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

Patron Saints of Nothing

By: Randy Ribay

4.23

Format: 323 pages, Hardcover

A coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncov…

"We failed him in life. We should not fail him in death."

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

"English is a language that lives in the middle of the mouth, but Tagalog is more of an open throat song that dances between the tip of the tongue and the teeth. My mouth feels too heavy, too thick, too slow to produce the light, rapid syllables Filipinos spit with such ease. I curse my parents for not teaching me the language when I was young, when the struggle would have seemed more like a fun game than an identity crisis."

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

"English is a language that lives in the middle of the mouth, but Tagalog is more of an open throat song that dances between the tip of the tongue and the teeth. My mouth feels too heavy, too thick, too slow to produce the light, rapid syllables Filipinos spit with such ease. I curse my parents for not teaching me the language when I was young, when the struggle would have seemed more like a fun game than an identity crisis."

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

"But there are good things I can hold on to and there are other things I have the power to change. My family, myself, this world--al of us are flawed. But flawed doesn't mean hopeless. It doesn't mean forsaken. It doesn't mean lost. We are not doomed to suffer things as they are, silent and alone. We do not have to leave questions and letters and lives unanswered. We have more power and potential than we know if we would only speak, if we would only listen."

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

If you liked the teen plot in Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay , here is a list of 7 books like this:

1. In the Country

By: Mia Alvar

3.87

Format: 309 pages, Hardcover

These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, … read more

Similar categories in Mia Alvar's In the Country book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

2. The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race

By: Anthony Christian Ocampo

4.16

Format: 114 pages, Paperback

Is race only about the color of your skin? In The Latinos of Asia, Anthony Christian Ocampo shows t… read more

Similar categories in Anthony Christian Ocampo's The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

3. Smaller and Smaller Circles

By: F.H. Batacan

2.80

Format: None pages, Paperback

Smaller and Smaller Circlesis unique in the Philippine literary scene - a Pinoy detective novel, bo… read more

Similar categories in F.H. Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

Cover of All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

4. All My Rage

By: Sabaa Tahir

4.50

Format: 376 pages, Hardcover

Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arrange… read more

Similar categories in Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • coming of age
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • audiobook
"Songs help me process life. They help me feel."

-Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage

"The more you ask for," she'd say, "the better. Because it means you put your fait in something greater than yourself."

-Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage

"The more you ask for," she'd say, "the better. Because it means you put your faith in something greater than yourself."

-Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage

"Oh God, Toufiq," I whispered. "So much money we put in. What will we do now? I am a fool!" "Kindness is not foolish, my heart." He put his arm around me. "Anyway. At least they didn't steal the pictu…"

-Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage

Cover of Pet (Pet, #1) by Akwaeke Emezi

5. Pet (Pet, #1)

By: Akwaeke Emezi

4.16

Format: 208 pages, Hardcover

A thought-provoking and haunting novel about a creature that escapes from an artist's canvas, whose… read more

Similar categories in Akwaeke Emezi's Pet (Pet, #1) book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • fiction
  • young adult
  • audiobook
"Monsters don't look like anything, That's the whole point. That's the whole problem."

-Akwaeke Emezi, Pet (Pet, #1)

"It's hard to build a new world without making people angry. You try your best, you move with compassion, you think about the big structures. No revolution is perfect."

-Akwaeke Emezi, Pet (Pet, #1)

" What does a monster look like? Jam asked. Her mother focused on her, cupping her cheek in a chalky hand. "Monsters don't look like anything, doux-doux. That's the whole point. That's the whole probl…"

-Akwaeke Emezi, Pet (Pet, #1)

"Bitter knew her name was heavy but she hadn't minded because it was honest. That was something she'd taught Jam - that a lot of things were manageable as long as they were honest. You could see thing…"

-Akwaeke Emezi, Pet (Pet, #1)

Cover of Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1) by Adib Khorram

6. Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)

By: Adib Khorram

4.24

Format: 316 pages, Hardcover

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Darius Kellner speaks better K… read more

Similar categories in Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1) book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • coming of age
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"How could I be a tourist in my own past?"

-Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)

"...love was and opportunity, not a burden."

-Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)

"Don't ask me, we never did anything other than kissing."

-Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)

"Suicide isn't the only way you can lose someone to depression."

-Adib Khorram, Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)

Cover of Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds

7. Ain't Burned All the Bright

By: Jason Reynolds

4.42

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

Prepare yourself for something unlike anything: A smash-up of art and text for teens that viscerall… read more

Similar categories in Jason Reynolds's Ain't Burned All the Bright book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
"What is life in a house underwater?"

-Jason Reynolds, Ain't Burned All the Bright

"...and freedom to play without worry about the rules being rearranged"

-Jason Reynolds, Ain't Burned All the Bright

"...and she wipes weary from her eyes still glued to the no-good glued to the high definition glare of low-definition life"

-Jason Reynolds, Ain't Burned All the Bright

"And I'm sitting here wondering why my mother won't change the channel and why the news won't change the story and why the story won't change into something new instead of the every-hour rerun about h…"

-Jason Reynolds, Ain't Burned All the Bright

Cover of Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

8. Chaos Theory

By: Nic Stone

4.16

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin, delivers a gripping romance about two tee… read more

Similar categories in Nic Stone's Chaos Theory book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • audiobook
Cover of Me: Moth by Amber McBride

9. Me: Moth

By: Amber McBride

4.07

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

A debut YA novel-in-verse that is both a coming-of-age and a ghost story. Moth has lost her fami… read more

Similar categories in Amber McBride's Me: Moth book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • audiobook
  • fiction
  • young adult
  • contemporary
"Most of the founding fathers were like that; they spoke of freedom but did not offer it to everyone. They had bodies in their closets."

-Amber McBride, Me: Moth

"Places we decide to stop. Monticello Plantation, Charlottesville, Virginia: Where Thomas Jefferson committed several sins; we go to stomp on hateful plantation ground."

-Amber McBride, Me: Moth

Cover of We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

10. We Are Not Free

By: Traci Chee

4.32

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

“All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the… read more

Similar categories in Traci Chee's We Are Not Free book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • young adult
  • family
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"...I'm not guilty of anything but being born with this face."

-Traci Chee, We Are Not Free

"We could do everything right, and they’d still think we were dangerous."

-Traci Chee, We Are Not Free

"Tyranny is locking us up. Tyranny is taking our freedom. Tyranny is right here. Tyranny is American."

-Traci Chee, We Are Not Free

"If someone always said, You have to do this for me before I do this for you, then nothing would ever get done"

-Traci Chee, We Are Not Free

Cover of Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

11. Warrior Girl Unearthed

By: Angeline Boulley

4.34

Format: 396 pages, Hardcover

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that wa… read more

Similar categories in Angeline Boulley's Warrior Girl Unearthed book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • audiobook
"Some friendships can endure anything."

-Angeline Boulley, Warrior Girl Unearthed

"Sometimes you need to protect your heart from the pain."

-Angeline Boulley, Warrior Girl Unearthed

"Everything is connected. The past. The future. The beginning and ending."

-Angeline Boulley, Warrior Girl Unearthed

"You jump, and I'll catch you. Every time. I'm your ride or die, niijiikwe."

-Angeline Boulley, Warrior Girl Unearthed

Cover of Rez Ball by Byron Graves

12. Rez Ball

By: Byron Graves

4.16

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

This debut novel by Byron Graves tells the story of a young athlete determined to play like the her… read more

Similar categories in Byron Graves's Rez Ball book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • coming of age
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of Saints of the Household by Ari Tison

13. Saints of the Household

By: Ari Tison

4.12

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Saints of the Household is a haunting contemporary YA about an act of violence in a small-town--tol… read more

Similar categories in Ari Tison's Saints of the Household book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • family
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater

14. Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

By: Dashka Slater

4.30

Format: 480 pages, Hardcover

When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to… read more

Similar categories in Dashka Slater's Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • audiobook
Cover of The Collectors by A.S. King

15. The Collectors

By: A.S. King

3.46

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

From Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King and an all-star team of contributors including Anna-M… read more

Similar categories in A.S. King's The Collectors book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

16. Patron Saints of Nothing

By: Randy Ribay

4.23

Format: 323 pages, Hardcover

A coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncov… read more

Similar categories in Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • coming of age
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • family
  • mystery
  • audiobook
"We failed him in life. We should not fail him in death."

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

"English is a language that lives in the middle of the mouth, but Tagalog is more of an open throat song that dances between the tip of the tongue and the teeth. My mouth feels too heavy, too thick, t…"

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

"But there are good things I can hold on to and there are other things I have the power to change. My family, myself, this world--al of us are flawed. But flawed doesn't mean hopeless. It doesn't mean…"

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

"Maybe he was reaching out to me through those words, and I let him slip away. I stayed silent. If I had written to him more often, been more honest, would it have helped him work through some of his …"

-Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing

Cover of America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo

17. America Is Not the Heart

By: Elaine Castillo

3.98

Format: 408 pages, Hardcover

Three generations of women from one immigrant family trying to reconcile the home they left behind … read more

Similar categories in Elaine Castillo's America Is Not the Heart book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"There are mercies, and there are mercies."

-Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart

"A name had a lifespan like anything else."

-Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart

"You know what it's like to have a fate; you also know what it's like to escape one."

-Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart

"You don’t ever really stop having a song. It’s easier to stop having a person than to stop having a song."

-Elaine Castillo, America Is Not the Heart

Cover of Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by Mae Coyiuto

18. Chloe and the Kaishao Boys

By: Mae Coyiuto

4.04

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Loveboat, Taipei in this hilarious YA rom-com about a Chinese-Filipina … read more

Similar categories in Mae Coyiuto's Chloe and the Kaishao Boys book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • family
  • audiobook
Cover of We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez

19. We Are Not From Here

By: Jenny Torres Sanchez

4.48

Format: 344 pages, Hardcover

A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of desperation, escape, and survival across the U.S.-Mexico borde… read more

Similar categories in Jenny Torres Sanchez's We Are Not From Here book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • family
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"We are to Mexico what Mexico is to the States."

-Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here

"Los sueños y los hombres son para las pendejas."

-Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here

"You can outrun danger...But you can’t outrun the pain."

-Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here

"We are luchadores. We are fighters. We are those who dare to try against impossible odds."

-Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here

Cover of Brown Skin, White Minds: Filipino - American Postcolonial Psychology (NA) by E.J.R. David

20. Brown Skin, White Minds: Filipino - American Postcolonial Psychology (NA)

By: E.J.R. David

4.28

Format: 360 pages, Paperback

Filipino Americans have a long and rich history with and within the United States, and they are cur… read more

Similar categories in E.J.R. David's Brown Skin, White Minds: Filipino - American Postcolonial Psychology (NA) book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • asian literature
Cover of My Heart Underwater by Laurel Flores Fantauzzo

21. My Heart Underwater

By: Laurel Flores Fantauzzo

3.92

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

After Corazon's mother catches her kissing her older female teacher, Corazon is sent to the Philipp… read more

Similar categories in Laurel Flores Fantauzzo's My Heart Underwater book and Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing

  • teen
  • realistic fiction
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • family
  • audiobook
"There can be times,"

-Laurel Flores Fantauzzo, My Heart Underwater

"You had a spirit in you also,"

-Laurel Flores Fantauzzo, My Heart Underwater

"I feel my heart underwater here. It’s strong and steady now, not drowning. I’m held. I’m afloat. I’m home."

-Laurel Flores Fantauzzo, My Heart Underwater

"I’m afraid my crushes are dangerous for me. Maybe my heart will lead me the wrong way, always. Back into something that’ll always end bad. Into the wrong waters, where I’ll drown."

-Laurel Flores Fantauzzo, My Heart Underwater

16 best-selling fiction books like Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

Transform Your Habits

All My Rage

Sabaa Tahir

4.50

Transform Your Habits

Pet (Pet, #1)

Akwaeke Emezi

4.16

Transform Your Habits

Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)

Adib Khorram

4.24

Transform Your Habits

Ain't Burned All the Bright

Jason Reynolds

4.42

View all the books

18 Best fiction books like Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

Transform Your Habits

We Deserve Monuments

Jas Hammonds

4.30

Transform Your Habits

Chaos Theory

Nic Stone

4.16

Transform Your Habits

Rez Ball

Byron Graves

4.16

Transform Your Habits

The Manifestor Prophecy (Nic Blake and the Remarkables, #1)

Angie Thomas

4.19

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