4.0
Everything We Never Had
ByPublisher Description
Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
Longlisted for the National Book Award
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award
From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, masculinity, and their fraught father-son relationships.
Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.
Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of prejudice from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.
Denver, 1983. Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the football team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father dismisses his interest as unamerican and unimportant.
Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.
Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.
Longlisted for the National Book Award
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award
From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, masculinity, and their fraught father-son relationships.
Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.
Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of prejudice from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.
Denver, 1983. Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the football team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father dismisses his interest as unamerican and unimportant.
Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.
Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesEverything We Never Had Reviews
4.0
“This book is why representation in literature matters ❤️💙💛🤍
•
Although I am 2nd generation Filipino-canadian, I saw my experiences, my family and community portrayed in this book. I usually read fil-am/can literature but never has there been a story where ilokano people and language was mentioned. Often growing up I’d feel shame that my friends and their family spoke Tagalog but my family was “different”.
Recently, I moved away from my home town to pursue my dream career, that my grandparents immigrated to in the late 1960’s.
“Utang na loob” was a feeling I struggled with but just couldn’t put into words until reading Ribay’s quote.
Besides the personal connection, the historical element, character development and contents on touching on the experience of many diaspora Filipinos was amazing to the point of tears!!
“ a debt from within. From the heart. It is a debt you did not ask for and will never pay off but must always try to. It is gratitude for the ancestors who brought you into existence, for the family who raised you, for the community who helped you in ways direct and indirect, visible and invisible. It is acknowledgment that none of us are alone (…)
It is beautiful. It is burdensome.
It is the glue of community, the weight of obligation.””
“EVERYTHING WE NEVER HAD by Randy Ribay
I love coming across books about the Filipino American immigrant experience. I was looking forward to reading this one and I’m happy to say I truly enjoyed it.
Themes of inter-generational trauma, masculinity, guilt, immigration, social prejudice and racism are interwoven with the Farm Workers Movement, the Watsonville Riots, Ferdinand Marcos Regime, and the global pandemic. There’s a lot going on with four different timelines and POVs, but it’s all done seamlessly.
This is geared toward YA; the prose and info dump of historical figures and events can be easily compared and contrasted with our current political climate. It gives readers food for thought which is always a good thing IMO.
In short, this was fantastic. Highly recommend for readers of all ages. I enjoyed the audiobook and recommend it for those not familiar with the pronunciation of Tagalog words and phrases.
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️”
About Randy Ribay
Randy Ribay is a Filipino American author of young adult fiction. His novel Patron Saints of Nothing was a finalist for the National Book Award and the LA Times Book Prize. Randy was also a contributor to the Printz Award–winning anthology The Collectors, edited by A. S. King. His other works include An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, After the Shot Drops, and Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku. Born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest, Randy currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, son, and cat-like dog.
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