Saints of the Household (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781250907004)

Winner of the Pura Belpr? Award and Walter Dean Myers Award for Young Adult Literature!

Saints of the Household is a haunting contemporary YA about an act of violence in a small-town--beautifully told by a debut Indigenous Costa Rican-American writer--that will take your breath away.

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.

Author: Ari Tison
ISBN-10: 1250907004
ISBN-13: 9781250907004
Publisher: Square Fish
Language: English
Published: 11/25/2025
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.5
Point Value: 5
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 521949 / Saints of the Household