Austen’s world helped her realize she wanted to address class and socioeconomic status in her book. “ Pride and Prejudice came up because I said I wanted to deal with political issues between two kids falling in love and the conflict between them,” explained Zoboi.

It was Zoboi’s editor, Alessandra Balzer, who suggested looking at the structure of classic works for inspiration. I actually started some projects before the election, and during, and after the election, but it was really tough for me to capture a light love story.

“And it was especially hard to write a love story within this political climate. “Love stories are hard for me,” she said. Zoboi said she was having some difficulty finding not only the right approach to the book, but the proper mindset for it, too. “I wanted to go a little bit lighter after that and write about kids not dealing with violence or trauma, just falling in love, but still making some sort of political statement. “ American Street was just so hard to write,” she said. 'Zoboi 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.Pride arrives fast on the heels of Zoboi’s 2017 debut, American Street, about a Haitian girl who’s thrust into the rough Detroit neighborhood where her relatives live, while she tries to free her mother, who is being detained by U.S. 'Zoboi 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.' (Publishers Weekly, 'An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List') Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.īut with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick's changing landscape, or lose it all. She especially can't stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. A smart, funny, gorgeous retelling starring all characters of color. In a timely update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.

Pride and prejudice remix