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From Horn Book

September 1, 2024
Perspectives in this novel alternate among members of the Maghabol family from four different generations. In 1929, Francisco has recently emigrated from the Philippines to Watsonville, California, where he picks produce and eventually becomes a major labor organizer. In 1965, his son, Emil, has grown up without the presence of his constantly traveling father. Emil finds his way out of poverty by committing to academic and professional excellence. In 1983, Emil's son, Chris, struggles with pressures from his father, who expects him to assimilate and focus on school -- but a class project leads Chris to uncover deep and difficult histories of the Philippines, which is met with Emil's disapproval. And in 2020, Chris's son Enzo witnesses the effects of generational differences, rifts, and trauma when his grandfather moves in with the family as a precaution at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to exploring complex father-son relationships, Ribay takes the reader on a journey through Filipino American history, from the Manong Generation (young, single men who came to the U.S. in the early twentieth century) to the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020. A brief historical note and resources are appended. Gabi Kim Huesca

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

Starred review from August 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-National Book Award finalist Ribay juggles skillfully and with great heart a Filipino American family history as told by four generations of fathers and sons in alternating chapters. Readers first meet 16-year-old Enzo, the youngest, in Philadelphia at the start of the 2020 pandemic. "Murder hornets" is the euphemism he names the anxiety he's in therapy for, which kicks in big time as he learns about the virus killing people. Since his grandfather's retirement community poses a health risk, Emil, or Lolo, moves in with Enzo's family, taking his bedroom. Reluctant though willing, Enzo shares with his father, Chris, the concept of "utang na loob": taking care of Emil now is "a debt from within." Emil's father Francisco was an illiterate farmworker whose best friend was killed by white people trying to stop laborers from organizing in California in the 1920s; he later galvanized a union movement of Filipino, Mexican, and Black workers to win better wages and working conditions. Francisco sent his son to college, believing that the education beyond his reach was possible for Emil. Back in pandemic Philadelphia, 2020: When Lolo returns to his retirement home, Enzo inherits Thor, Lolo's small black lab mix. From their evening walks with Thor, Enzo comes to appreciate how tough and uncompromising a parent Emil was to his father. But Chris can and does love his own son, and Enzo feels it. Four generations of men, once so guarded: the change over time is gradual but lasting. VERDICT A must for all collections, this four-generation saga of Filipino fathers and sons will resonate with teenagers of all cultures.-Georgia Christgau

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

Starred review from July 1, 2024
Explores the relationships among four generations of Filipino American boys and men. In 1929, 16-year-old Francisco Maghabol immigrates from Ilocos Sur in the Philippines to California, lured by the promise of riches. Instead, he ends up doing grueling agricultural work for a dollar a day and faces violent racism. In 1965, Emil studies hard, hoping to attend college and make it in America, unlike his absent father, Francisco. Determined to escape his father's divisive reputation for organizing strikes for Filipino workers, Emil attempts to assimilate. In Colorado in 1983, Chris wants to play football, but his controlling, grades-focused dad, Emil, forces him off the team. A school history assignment and a Filipino classmate make Chris realize he wants to learn about the culture his father has erased. In 2020, Enzo, Chris' son, has just started managing his anxiety--but thanks to the spreading pandemic, Lolo Emil, the grandfather none of them like, comes to live with them in Philadelphia, causing tension. Told in alternating viewpoints, this strongly characterized novel covers the boys' struggles with identity against the backdrop of changes in American society. The many heartwarming and heartbreaking moments offer deep insights into intergenerational patterns and how one's life experiences and upbringing affect parenting and relationships. Ribay weaves historical events in the U.S. and the Philippines and Filipino cultural elements into the story, showing their impact on the Filipino diaspora. A powerful and moving family saga. (family tree, author's note, resources) (Fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Booklist

Starred review from July 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* On the eve of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., Enzo learns that his father, Chris, has arranged for Enzo's grandfather to stay in their house out of fear of infection. Decades earlier, Chris is a young man in the early 1980s and is forced to end a promising football career when his father, Emil, punishes him for missing a school assignment. Several years prior, Emil toils in near poverty, earning just enough money cleaning restaurant tables for him and his mother to eat while Francisco, his father, disappears for months on end. At the beginning of this multigenerational saga, a teenage Francisco toils in the orchards of California, a new immigrant fighting disillusionment in a supposed land of plenty. Entwined and exquisite like a taut braid, the narrative expertly weaves the lives of these fathers and sons into a powerful family drama centered on one family's Filipino American experience. Even more impressive than Ribay's ability to balance four separate point-of-view characters is the way the story immerses the reader in each character's time period. Whether depicting the anomie of the recent pandemic, the activism-charged atmosphere of the 1960s, or the tough lives of farm laborers enduring exploitation for a dream of prosperity, Ribay vividly and honestly brings these settings to life so the reader can better understand how the characters' worlds shape them.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from May 20, 2024
Ribay (Patron Saints of Nothing) examines masculinity and familial trauma via four generations of Filipino teens’ alternating perspectives in this emotionally resonant tale. In 2020 Philadelphia, Enzo Maghabol’s anxiety makes him feel like his head is full of “murder hornets.” Their buzzing gets worse when he learns his estranged grandfather will be moving in with his family during the pandemic. Banned from playing football for his Denver school due to his strict father’s approach to education, Chris becomes absorbed by the sociopolitical struggles in 1983 Philippines when he begins researching his ancestry, something his father would rather forget. Emil struggles to support himself and his mother while his absent father fights for farm workers’ rights in 1965 Stockton, Calif. After emigrating from the Philippines to Watsonville, Calif., in 1929, Francisco finds his dreams of a fresh start waylaid by the hard labor and racial violence he endures in his daily life. Compact storytelling richly layered with
Filipino American culture and history provides the backdrop for each father-son relationship as the Maghabols confront personal and familial expectations in both past and present narratives. Ages 12–up. Agent: Beth Phelan, Gallt & Zacker Literary.

From AudioFile Magazine

Four narrators depict intergenerational Filipino sons and fathers over the course of a century. Ram—n de Ocampo portrays young Francisco, who works tirelessly on California farms in the 1930s, occasionally regretting having left his Philippines home. JB Tadena captures angry Emil, who lives and works in poverty after Francisco, now an adult, deserts his family to pursue Filipino rights in 1965. Manny Jacinto portrays cowed, angry Chris, whose father, Emil, now grown, limits his options and leads him to discover his Philippine heritage in 1985. During the pandemic, Jesse Inocalla reveals sensitive Enzo's worry about disease and his abusive grandfather, Emil, who mistreats the family that has taken him in. Unique, powerful renderings connect for a view of how historical struggles create generational trauma. S.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine