Pride by Ibi Zoboi - OPTIONAL

Pride by Ibi Zoboi, 304 pages.  Balzer + Bray (Harper), September 2018.  $18.

Language: R (67 swears, 8 ‘f’); Mature Content:G  ; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY:  HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Zuri is anxiously awaiting her older sister’s arrival home from college, but is distracted by the new occupants of the finally restored mansion across the street.  The brothers, Darius an Ainsley are fine specimens of manhood and their arrival has all 5 Benitez sisters, along with the entire Bushwick neighborhood in an uproar.  Zuri is not sure where these interlopers will fit in - their posh clothes and manners don’t seem real for this ‘hood and their white friends look down on everything around them.  But fate keeps bringing them together.

Oh Ms. Zoboi – how I wish you had just gone for your own story without being quite so faithful to the original.  Especially the names – Why keep the name Darcy? That jolted me right out of the story and every time I tried to reimmerse myself, it jolted me out again. While a student who has never read Pride and Prejudice may have an easier time of ignoring the reference, I think they will also not be as interested in actual story. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian