By Ibi Zoboi
If you’ve been with me on #bookstagram for five minutes, you probably know that I’m a huge sucker for Jane Austen retellings. So, when I heard of a modern retelling set in Brooklyn I made grabby hands. 🤗 I was NOT disappointed, y’all! This story is a perfect combination of paying homage to an iconic story, while also reading like a love letter to Brooklyn. I loved Zuri and her loud, spunky family. Their cramped apartment always full of people reminded me of my Grandma’s house. And the pride she had for her family, and her building, and her neighborhood was tangible.
Zuri Luz Benitez and her family live in Bushwick and are proud of their Brooklyn roots. But Zuri notices lots of change on the horizon, the gentrification of her beloved neighborhood, the rich boys who moved in across the street, and her college prospects. At first she wants nothing to do with the Darcy boys across the street, especially Darius. But somewhere on Zuri’s journey to finding her place dislike turns into respect and understanding.
bi Zoboi used this twist on a classic well known story to put a spotlight on race and gentrification. But it’s also a story about first love and how terrifying and beautiful that is. The thing that really pushed this book over the top for me was the poetry throughout. Zuri’s jagged edged poems were SO GOOD! I read and re-read them. It was such a clever and well done take on the original, it’s probably in my top 5 Pride and Prejudice remixes!
"Hope is wishing that corners will turn into long, unending streets
Where all the traffic lights turn green.
Certainty is knowing that corners will always be home
Where ninety-degree angles are the constant shapes in our lives.
Always a sharp turn."
- How to Save the Hood, from Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Purchase Pride on Amazon.
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