Brown Boy Nowhere

A Novel

By: Sheeryl Lim

Narrated by: Ramón de Ocampo

Welcome to Nowhere, kid. Life starts here.

What’s the problem? Sixteen-year-old Filipino American Angelo Rivera will tell you flat out. Life sucks. He’s been uprooted from his San Diego home to a boring landlocked town in the middle of nowhere. Behind him, ocean waves, his girlfriend, and the biggest skateboarding competition on the California coast. Ahead, flipping burgers at his parents’ new diner and, as the only Asian in his all-white school, being trolled as “brown boy” by small-minded, thick-necked jocks.

Resigned to being an outcast, Angelo isn’t alone. Kirsten, a crushable ex-cheerleader and graffiti artist, and Larry, a self-proclaimed invisible band geek, recognize a fellow outsider. Soon enough, Angelo finds himself the leader of their group of misfits. They may be low on the high school food chain, but they’re determined to hold their own.

Between shifts at the diner, dodging bullies, and wishing for home, Angelo discovers this might not be nowhere after all. Sharing it can turn it into somewhere in a heartbeat.

©2021 by Sheeryl Lim. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Narrator Ramón de Ocampo is a one-man teen cast in this fresh send-up of high school insiders and outsiders.... De Ocampo is equally at ease with Angelo's constant jokes and his mother's emotional Tagalog outbursts.… De Ocampo's squeaky timbre and gentle Southern accent for band geek Larry paint a crystal clear picture. His many character voices always find the balance between iconic and realistic.” (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner)

“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…A light read that celebrates inclusion.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“A cool read and a welcome addition to the growing collection of Filipino American young adult literature.” (Booklist)

thank you for this storyline......

hey Manor Louisville, u make a good narrator dude 🕵👩‍💻👩‍🎤👩‍🎓👩‍🎨🙈🙉🙊👻 this story was very relatable and highly helpful as well.....believe it or not i tend to talk to my prerecorded podcasts and audiobooks as though im helping to develop something next level and beyond <3. it also is very helpful in a personal growth aspect socially speaking for myself and my better half as it were because hes is a socialite which i would b too had i not had the experiences in my world that caused me to not embrace that part of me like it should have but hey...thanx to yall im here now....thank you so much to all yall who helped up put on productions and continue content creating to spread our message to hopefully end stigmas for ever <3

fun!

The book was well written, also it is fun and comfortabling to listen to. I would definitely recommend this book to many other people.

Lame

This book gave after school television special vibes. Or a cringy diversity training video that corporate makes you watch. The characters all felt like overly used stereotypes. The storyline itself was predictable. It was a little preachy at times. I was hoping for more substance instead of the cookie cutter fluff that made up most of the book.