Saints of the Household

by Ari Tison

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374389499
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	03/28/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	90,441
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	HL680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Ari Tison is a Bribri (Indigenous Costa Rican) American and African descended poet and storyteller. Her poems and short works have been published in Yellow Medicine Review, The Under Review, Rock & Sling, and POETRY's first ever edition for children. She was the winner of the 2018 Vaunda Micheaux Nelson award for a BIPOC writer with Lerner Publishing. She currently is the annual broadside editor for Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop where she gets to collaborate with the Minnesota Center for the Book Arts to bring incarcerated voices into the world. Saints of the Household is her debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

An Amazon Best Book of the Month!

"In this striking, assured debut exhibiting a measured pace and delicate writing, Tison (Bribri) probes the ties of adolescent brotherhood and ways the effects of violence can stall self-directed growth... Remarkably compelling." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Tison’s writing is staggering... Structurally and substantively, this book is an elegiac triumph that puts the human heart in the reader’s hands." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"A heartrending, contemporary debut novel about the repercussions of trauma and the healing power of family and art. ... Violence can be inherited but so can love and forgiveness. This vulnerable and magnetic tale of brotherhood belongs on every shelf." —School Library Journal, starred review

"The story itself is a quiet, soulful exploration of how young men process the often-stark realities they live in. The character notes are subtle and nuanced." —Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2023

Gr 8 Up—A heartrending, contemporary debut novel about the repercussions of trauma and the healing power of family and art. Bribri American brothers Jay and Max (who are Indigenous Costa Rican) are reeling from the act of physical violence they perpetrated against the town's beloved soccer star. When they witnessed Luca stepping angrily toward their cousin Nicole and forcefully grabbing her arm in the Minnesota woods, the brothers instinctively beat him up. They've experienced physical abuse at the hands of their father and witnessed him doing the same to their mother. Max finds refuge in his art and a budding romance, while Jay burrows deeply into himself, occasionally finding respite in Nicole and his grandfather, who shares his love of reading and nature. However, the brothers become estranged. The chapters in this ruminative, dual perspective work are short. Jay's are written in prose vignettes; Max's are done in spare free verse. Tison's (Bribri) masterly economy of language—every word and even punctuation mark is chosen for a specific purpose—presents this compelling story of a family smashed to pieces by violence. The novel searingly depicts PTSD's strong hold—how every aspect of life is dictated by the fear of where the next fist is going to land, and how living so deeply in that circle of pain permeates every aspect of one's identity. Their problems aren't solved, but the siblings find peace in their small victories. Nicole is Anishinaabe, and Luca has some Mexican heritage. VERDICT Violence can be inherited but so can love and forgiveness. This vulnerable and magnetic tale of brotherhood belongs on every shelf.—Shelley M. Diaz

School Library Journal

★ 2022-12-24
Haunted by the specter of violence, two Bribri American brothers contend with their hang-ups and each other as their senior year of high school concludes.

Two weeks have passed since the incident in the Minnesotan woods when Indigenous Costa Rican brothers Jay and Max brutally beat up Luca, the school’s star soccer player, in defense of their cousin Nicole. The brothers are now social pariahs among their peers, enduring counseling sessions to get their lives back on track. At home, daily life remains the same under their father’s brutal hand, leading them to take shifts to ensure that their mother isn’t left unprotected. A rift soon festers between the brothers, who are only 11 months apart in age. Book-smart Jay rebuilds his friendship with Nicole, keeps a cautious eye on Luca, and tries to hold himself together for his mom, all to the detriment of his homework. Meanwhile, Max remains dedicated to securing a spot at his dream art school and embarking on a secret relationship with classmate Melody, consciously trying to avoid Jay’s dragging him down or problems at home from stunting the rest of his life. In this striking, assured debut exhibiting a measured pace and delicate writing, Tison (Bribri) probes the ties of adolescent brotherhood and ways the effects of violence can stall self-directed growth. The author peels apart each brother’s bruised psyche by ingeniously rotating among Jay’s tense vignettes, Max’s wistful verses, and Bribri cultural elements to underscore their anguished journey to reconciliation.

Remarkably compelling. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews