I have a soft spot for Pride and Prejudice (as you know from this post and this post), so when my husband got me this book for my stocking this year, I was over the moon!
This YA book modernizes the classic story while also having its own heart and soul. Set in modern day Bushwick, Brooklyn, Zuri and her loud Haitian-Dominican family love where they live. Zuri loves the block parties, the old men who sit outside the corner bodega all day, her fortune telling landlady in the basement, and the sense of togetherness. However, she has noticed changes coming to her neighborhood, the biggest of which is the rich family who bought the old dilapidated house across the street and restored it. Zuri is worried that the Darcy family moving in is the beginning of the end of her close-knit neighborhood, since they obviously don’t belong with their wealth and uppity son, Darius. The summer before her senior year should have been filled with college essay writing and sister-bonding, but Zuri finds she now must worry about her sweet older sister Janae falling for Ansley (the other Darcy brother), her two younger sisters emerging into the world of puberty and boys, and the sincerity of her her love interest Warren.
This was a great start to my New Year’s reading! The characters were well-developed (or at least Zuri, Janae, and the Darcy boys are…no one ever really thinks about her poor middle sister Mary), and I think many teens will resonate with this story.
You don’t have to have read the original to appreciate this one, however, it does add to the layers of the story to know the original.
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