Everything We Never Had - by Randy Ribay (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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. Winner of the APALA medal, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award, and longlisted for the National Book Award. Now in paperback!

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 un-American 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.

Review Quotes

Praise for Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay:

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature
Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Winner of the 2025 Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award
A National Indie Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Best YA Book of the Year
A Kirkus Best YA Book of the Year
An NPR Book We Love of 2024
A School Library Journal Best YA Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors' Choice
An ELLE Staff Pick of the Year
A 2024 BookBrowse Best YA Award Winner
A CALIBA Golden Poppy Winner
A Mirrors & Windows Award for Excellence in Children's Literature Finalist
A Bank Street Best Book of 2025
A 2025 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction
A 2025 Texas TAYSHAS Reading List Pick
A 2025-2026 Keystone to Reading Book Award Nominee (Pennsylvania)
A 2025-2026 Volunteer State Book Award Nominee (Tennessee)
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2024
A Common Sense Media Best Book of 2024
A 2024 California Book Award Winner (California)
A 2025-26 Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee (Georgia)
A 2025 International Literacy Association Notable Books for a Global Society
A 2025 Millikin Medal Honor Book
A 2025-2026 NEA Read Across America Selection
A 2025-2026 Read for a Lifetime Booklist (Illinois)

★ "[An] emotionally resonant tale...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." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "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...A powerful and moving family saga." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "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...Ribay vividly and honestly brings these settings to life so the reader can better understand how the characters' worlds shape them." --Booklist, starred review

★ "­Ribay juggles skillfully and with great heart a ­Filipino American family history...A must for all collections, this four-generation saga of Filipino fathers and sons will resonate with teenagers of all cultures." --School Library Journal, starred review

★ "A masterclass...an insightful and powerful look at generational trauma." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

About the Author

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.