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The Oracles: My Filipino Grandparents in America

Pati Navalta Poblete

144 pp (5.5 x 8.5), with eight pages of b&w photographs Trade Paper, ISBN: 1-59714-036-8, $13.95

As a young girl growing up in California, Pati Navalta Poblete is dismayed to find her American way of life interrupted when her four grandparents arrive from the Philippines. Turning her adolescence upside down, they inspire her to name them “the Oracles” for the unfamiliar—and often unsolicited—wisdom they bring. Poblete tells her story of generational strife and familial clash of values with tenderness and humor. In sharp and unforgettable glimpses we see the shadows of superstition, the force of religion, and the embrace of family—sometimes welcome, sometimes not. Only years later did she begin to understand how much she had needed the Oracles to bring her own

Advance Praise:

“A tender, funny, engrossing memoir.”—Tess Uriza Holthe, author of When the Elephants Dance

“Pati Navalta Poblete’s memoir is a typical story of an American childhood. When her grandmother, Fausta, arrives from the Philippines, the American childhood then becomes a multigenerational tale of familial mythmaking and vivid storytelling.”—Shawn Wong, author of Homebase and American Knees,
and co-editor of Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Asian American Writers

“This memoir is sweet without being coy, affectionate without being too sentimental, both witty and funny. It takes us into Pati’s heart and reminds us to remember our grandparents’ stories. They are worth telling.”—Leny Mendoza Strobel, author of Coming Full Circle: The Process of Decolonization Among Post-1965 Filipino Americans

“I laughed and cried as Pati Navalta Poblete drew me into her wonderful, idiosyncratic Filipino American family—a kind of Cheaper by the Dozen, only hers was full of grandparents whose strange and mysterious ways offer universal lessons in life.” ­—Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People

“The Oracles is a brave and touching book that made me laugh.…Regarding the Asian-American experience, there need to be more books like hers that explore the range of emotions one feels when balancing filial piety with one’s desire to listen to Billy Idol.” —Kim Wong Keltner, author of The Dim Sum of All Things and Buddha Baby

“With the ease and experience of a veteran writer, this youthful talent weaves her tale with all the naturalness and freshness of raindrops falling.…Like her Grandpa Paterno always said: “Be good, Neneng. Make us all proud.” I can see him, all four of the grandparents, as well as her parents, and her people, and her fellow Filipino American writers like me swelling with pride.” —Oscar Peñaranda, author of Seasons by the Bay and Full Deck (Jokers Playing)

About the Author:

Pati Navalta Poblete is the deputy editorial page editor of the Honolulu Advertiser. Until recently, she had lived in the Bay Area her entire life. She was an editorial writer and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, and before that she was the paper’s demographics editor, supervising a team of reporters who cover race relations, religion, gay and lesbian topics, immigration, and issues of youth and aging. Website: http://patipoblete.blogspot.com/