Saints of the Household

 

My Thoughts:

This debut YA novel by Indigenous Costa Rican author Ari Tison is complex in that it starts with the repercussions of violence not done to, but done by these two Bribri American brothers. The two brothers come upon a couple in the Minnesota woods and recognize the girl, Nicole, their Anishnabe "cousin," being grabbed forcefully by her boyfriend, white/Mexican soccer star Luca. The two brothers, Max and Jay without much conversation or questioning beat him up. The rest of the book is done in alternating chapters as Jay and Max come through some sort of healing and reflection on both the violence done to them by their father, as well as the violence they inflicted. Jay's chapters are written in prose vignettes. Max's chapters are written in spare free verse. 

The difficulty and therefore the brilliance in this book is that the words on paper reflect how the two boys shatter. The incident acts as a chasm between them that never really gets bridged. Each of them find their own individual semi- peace, but I don't think they see each other in the same way. Jay has Nicole and his grandfather to help him heal. Max has his art and a budding romance that he does not want to tell Jay about. Perhaps that is the most tragic aspect of this book is that they cannot rely on each other to heal. In fact, as the readers alternate between the two boys, how they "read" each other is so heartbreakingly wrong that it feels like their base is untenable. 

This book deserves whatever awards it is going to get. The heartbreak stayed with me long after I finished reading. I'm not going to talk about themes and activities in this post because I think this is my next Language arts methods class read for the summer. 

From the Publisher:

Max and Jay have always depended on one another for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, the two Bribri American brothers have learned that the only way to protect themselves and their mother is to stick to a schedule and keep their heads down.

But when they hear a classmate in trouble in the woods, instinct takes over and they intervene, breaking up a fight and beating their high school's star soccer player to a pulp. This act of violence threatens the brothers' dreams for the future and their beliefs about who they are. As the true details of that fateful afternoon unfold over the course of the novel, Max and Jay grapple with the weight of their actions, their shifting relationship as brothers, and the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. They'll have to reach back to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.

Told in alternating points of view using vignettes and poems, debut author Ari Tison crafts an emotional, slow-burning drama about brotherhood, abuse, recovery, and doing the right thing.

Publication Information:

Author: Ari Tison

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux (March 28, 2023)

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374389499

Grade level: 10-12