YA novel on drug war ‘Patron Saints of Nothing’ longlisted for 2020 Carnegie Medal

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino author Randy Ribay’s Patron Saints of Nothing, a young adult novel set in the backdrop of the Philippines’ bloody “war on drugs,” has been longlisted for the 2020 Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Carnegie Medal.

CILIP revealed the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal longlists in a press statement on Thursday, February 20.

Discover outstanding writing and storytelling in the 20 incredible books longlisted for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal! #CKG20 #BestChildrensBooks pic.twitter.com/HJkHnJdYtc

— Carnegie Greenaway (@CILIPCKG) February 20, 2020

Ribay’s novel is among 20 books from around the world longlisted for the prestigious literary award. It was nominated in November 2019. 

Patron Saints of Nothing tells the coming-of-age story of a young Filipino-American Jay Reguero who travels back to the Philippines to uncover the truth behind his cousin’s death under President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs. (READ: [OPINION] A personal reflection: Reading Randy Ribay’s ‘Patron Saints of Nothing’)

The coveted CILIP Carnegie Medal, established in 1936 in memory of Scottish-born philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, is given to an children’s book author whose writing “creates a outstanding reading experience” for children and young adults.

“The Awards’ mission ‘to inspire and empower the next generation to shape a better world through books and reading’ is reflected in the longlist, with stories that help children develop empathy by understanding their own and other people’s feelings and reality,” CILIP said.

CILIP said the longlisted books were selected from a total of 162 nominations “read by an expert volunteer team of 14 children’s and youth librarians from across the UK.”

The shortlisted novels will be announced on March 19, while the winners will be announced on June 17.

Here is the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist:

• The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, illustrated by Anshika Khullar (Hachette Children’s Group)
• A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby (Egmont)
• Toffee by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
• Becoming Dinah by Kit de Waal (Hachette Children’s Group)
• Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo (Walker Books)
• Monsters by Sharon Dogar (Andersen Press)
• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly (Hot Key Books)
• Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee (Pushkin Children’s Books)
• Nowhere on Earth by Nick Lake (Hachette Children’s Group)
• Lark by Anthony McGowan (Barrington Stoke)
• The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen (Andersen Press)
• Inkling by Kenneth Oppel (Walker Books)
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (Little Tiger)
• Lampie written and illustrated by Annet Schaap and translated by Laura Watkinson (Pushkin Children’s Books)
• Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black by Marcus Sedgwick and Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by Alexis Deacon (Walker Books)
• The Boxer by Nikesh Shukla (Hachette Children’s Group)
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Walker Books)
• Girl. Boy. Sea. by Chris Vick (Head of Zeus)
• Paper Avalanche by Lisa Williamson (David Fickling Books)

– Rappler.com