The Boy with A Snake in his Schoolbag: A Memoir from Manila

by Bob Ong, Freely Abrigo (Illustrator)

A Fascinating and Funny Coming-of-Age Story set in the Philippines

This humorous coming-of-age memoir follows the author from kindergarten through high school and college to his own experiences as a young teacher. Set in Manila, it explores universal themes of friendship, love, school life, depression, academic struggles and personal successes. A National Bestseller in the Philippines, the book also includes illustrations by award-winning cartoonist Freely Abrigo, a concept artist for Warner Brothers.

This collection of warm and humorous essays candidly chronicles Bob Ong's experiences growing up in the Marcos-era Manila of the 1980s. The author casts a satirical and nostalgic eye on the events of everyday life
Whether you're nostalgic for your own schooldays in the Philippines or simply want to enjoy an entertaining memoir set against the backdrop of a chaotic Asian city, this book is for you.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

About the author

Bob Ong is a bestselling Filipino author best known for his humor, with works spanning multiple genres and recognized as modern classics. Some of his books have been selected as required reading in schools, translated for a global audience, and adapted for film, stage, and even a game. Widely read and warmly received, he has been invited to judge in writing competitions and collaborate in talks and workshops. His mission, as he often puts it, is “to enlighten, to entertain, or both,” a goal reflected in the wide appeal of his work. His book, 56, won the Best Book of Essays at the National Book Awards in 2019 and the Filipino Readers’ Choice Award for Nonfiction in 2022. His website earned him a Philippine Webby Award in 1998, an early accolade that helped establish his reputation.

Reviews

[Zai Zai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally relatable gen x memoir about the growing pains of a Filipino student.

[Joy Kirr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few parts were confusing, but I get the author’s messages. I haven’t read very many books that are set in the Philippines!

[Eunice Carmela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read for this week. 📚

I loved ABNKKBSNPLAko?! back in the early 2000s, and rereading it in English (with the added chapters) was just as fun, a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Though Bob Ong writes from a Gen X perspective, many of his stories still resonate with millennials. As a student, I thought the book was about the value of education. Reading it again as an adult, I realized it’s really about something deeper: education matters, but character is what truly takes you far in life.

[Tamara Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Boy With a Snake in His Schoolbag: A Memoir from Manila (Or Something Like That)” is a nonfiction collection of essays spanning from author Roberto “Bob” Ong’s childhood in Manila, Philippines to his adult years.

The book consists of fifty untitled essays.

In the first essay, the reader is transported to a day in June in an unknown year in second grade-section one which is first month of the school year in the Philippines. Ong’s education occurs in a canteen which is one room divided into a classroom and a place to eat. Over time, the reader learns that Ong’s father is a seaman who spends his time working on ships.

As the memoir progresses, Ong provides the reader with riveting tales of category 5 storms attacking the classroom, a story of sibling supervision which explains the book’s title, a hilarious story of Ong’s intrigue over the female reproductive system as an eight-year-old, participating in a school production of “Star Wars” during high school, and receiving a childhood Christmas gift as a fifteen-year-old.

After finishing high school, Ong begins college but has a disastrous first semester due time tardiness, exhaustion, and skipped meals. Although Ong has a brief reprieve in his second year of college, he soon loses all interest in college and ends up quitting. Ong eventually confesses to his family his struggles with school, his loss of interest in college, lost hope, and lost dreams. After feeling supported by his family and friends, Ong finds his worldview changed, enrolls in computer classes at a vocational school and becomes active in the school newsletter. After graduating from the vocational school, Ong gets a job teaching basic and advanced computer skills to professionals.

Following a year working as a computer teacher, Ong is sent to a private school as an emergency substitute teacher but soon accepts a position for the entire academy year.
Ong shares his perspective of being a student vs teacher and how as a teacher, all noises aggravated him. I particularly enjoyed Ong’s description of twelve types of high school students which are clowns, geeks, hollow men, spice girls, the gwapings, celebrities, Guinness record holders, leather goods, weirdos, children of Rizal, Bob Ongs, and commoners.

Ong provides updated information is provided on the K-12 education system with the intriguing knowledge that starting in 2011, Filipino kindergartners will be given instructions in their region’s local language. First graders can read in the native language and English and Filipino will be added to their curriculum as separate subjects. English and Filipino will become the medium of instruction beginning in fourth grade and continuing through senior high school.

Junior high students will be able to take high school courses such as algebra, biology, or chemistry. In high school, students will be segregated based on their interests and career goals. After finishing high school, students have the option to start their own business or attend college.

After his teacher position at the high school ends, Ong’s eventually leaves the teaching profession altogether after three years.

Towards the end of the book, Ong vents about getting an allowance from his parents as a reward for good grades but how the allowance pales in comparison to everything he’s learned in school and in life. The book ends with Ong revisiting his old high school and reminiscing about his time there, feeling loss at the changes that have been made to the school, and realizing that although he has returned to the high school, he can’t return to the past.

After the last essay, it was interesting to see a foreword to the new edition of this book in which Ong describes how his life land the book has changed since it was first published in 2001. Ong shares with the reader his journey to be becoming a published author and receiving initial criticism for his book. Despite feeling discouraged, Ong is bolstered by support from an overseas Filipino worker who helped him realize the value of his written work and ends by thanking the reader for taking interest in his stories.

Following the foreword after and what I viewed to be acknowledgments, I was confused when there were two more essays in which Ong writes about his preschool experience and his first experience with love.

As I finished this book, I liked that the essays were short and that most ended with helpful further explanation to the Philippines school system. It was fascinating to learn about CAT or Citizen Army Training which was mandatory military education and training for tenth grade high school students at the time, the NCEE (National College Entrance Exam) which was similar to the SAT but has been abolished, and the Certificate of Good Moral Character which is a document usually required for admission to college.

Some of the essays contained relatable experiences such as excitement over recess while some experiences were unique to the Philippines school system such as waxing and polishing the classroom floors by foot using coconut husks and circumcision for boys around puberty.

Although the book was entertaining, it felt disjointed to me at times since there was no clear separation from Ong’s elementary school years into his high school years.

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently the English version of ABNKKBSNPLK. 5 stars for that one but the English version didn’t hit quite the same. 3 stars.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid English version of his iconic work ABNKKBSNPLAko?! with some tweaks and updates to make it accessible to international readers. Just like the original, I was thoroughly entertained with the anecdotes and nostalgia that Bob Ong laid out and it still feels very personal in the English version. My experience reading was almost the same as the original and I'm glad that it exists so that non-Filipinos can also enjoy this gem.

[Maui Rochell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I read a Bob Ong book and I can still remember his other books I read during my high school days. But this one The Boy With A Snake in His Schoolbag is quite different for me number one because it is in English which is not the typical Bob Ong we know. Still, I liked it for I can still recognize his humor and his stories still hit different. 😆

[Duck · Rating 4 out of 5]

i lowkey think it's a must-read memoir for my fellow Filipino student niche out there. With a nostalgic yet relatable zest, it was heartfelt throughout. But I liked its bouts of (my kind of) dry humor most.

[Thea Loves to Read · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.


The book is sooo boring!