BROWN BOY NOWHERE

Angelo is livid that his parents have uprooted their lives in San Diego to drive across the country to small-town, landlocked Ocean Pointe to take over Sloppy’s Pit Stop, a greasy spoon.

Leaving behind his girlfriend, Amanda; best friend, Mackabi; the ethnic diversity of San Diego; and a lot of his favorite foods, 16-year-old Filipino American Angelo Rivera starts off his junior year of high school with a plan to save up money flipping burgers at Sloppy’s. He’s saving up for a plane ticket to compete in the Streetsgiving skateboarding competition in San Diego in November—and he has a secret plan to try to finish high school there, living with his cool Tita Marie. When football jocks bully him on his first day in Ocean Pointe, calling him by the derogatory label brown boy, Angelo has even less confidence that he can be happy in this town. Lim’s straightforward narrative follows Angelo on his journey through friendship, love, and acclimating to a new home. For anyone who has felt unjustly uprooted, Angelo’s story can provide comforting reassurance that one can re-create home and community wherever they are. Readers seeking a predictable story with a happy ending straight out of a Disney movie will be satisfied; those looking for more depth and nuance should look elsewhere. Most of the population of Ocean Pointe is presumed White.

A light read that celebrates inclusion.