Pride

July 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-This Bushwick-set, contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice tackles gentrification, Blackness, and romance with honesty, humor, and heart. Afro-Latina Zuri Benitez is proud of her Dominican and Haitian heritage, close-knit family, and bustling block. However, the teen knows that the renovation of the abandoned house across the street into a mansion portends a gentrifying trend that she's not quite ready for. It also ushers in the arrival of the wealthy Darcy brothers-Ainsley, the charming and friendly college boy who is possibly striking up a romance with Janae, Zuri's college freshman sister; and Darius, the too-cool-for-school younger brother, who is as handsome as he is snooty. Zoboi follows her novel American Street with this send-up of Austen's classic, an insightful commentary on socioeconomic class, changing neighborhoods, and the pressures of growing up and falling in love as a second-generation immigrant. Janeites will appreciate the nods to the original: Mr. Collins is the nephew of the Benitezs' Oshun-worshipping godmother and apartment building owner; the Wickham character likes to sweet-talk younger girls into taking revealing selfies; and the five sisters' dynamic is just as memorable. But those unfamiliar with Austen's work will also be enamored with the warmth that permeates the characters, the spellbinding storytelling, and the tender but bittersweet love letter to Brooklyn. Teens will cheer for the protagonist as she finds her passion for poetry and hesitantly falls love. VERDICT This excellent coming-of-age take on a classic belongs on all YA shelves.-Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journal

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2018
Seventeen-year-old Zuri Benitez deals with gentrification in her Brooklyn neighborhood and her own bias in this Pride and Prejudice remix.Zuri, or ZZ from the Block, loves her big, loud Haitian-Dominican family. She loves her Bushwick neighborhood. She doesn't love the gentrification changing her hood, "like my face and body when I was in middle school--familiar but changing right before my eyes." So when the rich Darcy family moves into the expensive renovated house across the street, she's skeptical even though they're also black. The Darcy brothers are handsome, but Zuri thinks Darius Darcy's a snob. She opts instead for Warren, the brothers' classmate and a boy who feels familiar. Austen fans will guess his true colors. When poet Zuri unexpectedly runs into Darius at an open mic, she begins to rethink her assessment of him, and the two, as expected, fall for each other. While Darius' attraction to Zuri makes sense, Zuri's doesn't seem to move beyond his physical attractiveness--odd for a character who's otherwise thoughtful and complex. The ending, both realistic and bittersweet, is a culmination of the book's examination of the costs of gentrification. The plot moves too fast for substantial character growth on Zuri's part, and some elements feel contrived, but these flaws don't spoil a book which is not only a retelling, but an examination of timely issues, including class, blackness, and intraracial prejudice.Legit. (Fiction. 14-adult)

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Starred review from August 13, 2018
“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood... the first thing they want to do is clean it up,” begins this Pride and Prejudice retelling that stands solidly on its own while cleverly paralleling Austen’s classic about five economically challenged sisters. In the role of sharp-tongued Lizzie Bennett is Zuri Benitez, who loves her family, her Haitian-Dominican heritage, and her ethnically diverse neighborhood: Brooklyn’s Bushwick. She’s less excited about the prospect of the neighborhood gentrifying, but the arrival of the handsome, wealthy black Darcy brothers, who move into a newly renovated mini-mansion on her block, catalyzes a plot studded with detailed nuances of culture clash. An ambitious poet with dreams of Howard University, Zuri (the family’s “hard candy shell, the protector”) fights her attraction to the younger Darius as her older sister, Janae, is swept up in Ainsley’s attentions. Zoboi (American Street) skillfully depicts the vicissitudes of teenage relationships, and Zuri’s outsize pride and poetic sensibility make her a sympathetic teenager in a contemporary story about race, gentrification, and young love. Ages 13–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary.

August 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Zoboi's debut, American Street (2017), garnered critical acclaim as a National Book Award finalist and Booklist's 2017 Top of the List pick. Now she returns with a razor-sharp remix of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that deals in gentrification, racism, love, culture, and heritage, all helmed by intelligent teens in New York's Bushwick neighborhood. From the first sentence, It is a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood . . ., the reader can anticipate a creative, clever retelling. All the key elements of Austen's beloved literary tome are here, from the five Benitez sisters, with differing opinions on love and dating, to Darius Darcy, the mysterious (and gorgeous) rich boy who just moved in across the street. Zuri Benitez pops with confidence, poetry, and, naturally, pride, and her transformation during the story will click with modern teens and culturally diverse readers, in particular. Afro-Latino and African American elements pulse throughout Zoboi's fresh, imaginative, and honest rendition of a timeless classic, giving its enduring themes renewed relevance and appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)