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Stripes Publishing, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, has acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to Patron Saints of Nothing, the new YA novel by Filipino-American author Randy Ribay.
Editorial director Ruth Bennett bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Gemma Cooper at The Bent Agency, who was acting on behalf of Ribay’s principal agent, Beth Phelan at Gallt & Zacker.
The novel is a 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 starting at the University of Michigan. When he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Rodrigo 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.
The official death toll from President Duterte’s violent war on drugs in the Philippines has risen above 5,000 people, and in November 2018 three police officers were convicted of murdering a 17-year-old high school student, said Stripes.
“Patron Saints of Nothing is a powerful, compelling and incredibly readable novel,” said Bennett. “Bringing what might otherwise seem like distant global events to readers’ awareness through their imagination, Ribay shines a light on the current situation in the Philippines. Seen through the eyes of a regular teen in incredible circumstances, there is something here for every teen to relate to. I am proud to bring this brilliant book to a UK audience.”
Stripes will publish in the UK in June 2019, simultaneously with US publisher Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House.