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Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix Summary & Study Guide

Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix Summary & Study Guide Description

The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Zoboi, Ibi. Pride. Balzer and Bray, 2018.

Pride is divided into thirty individual chapters, each of which moves in chronological order beginning with the start of summer vacation when the eldest Benitez sister, Janae, comes home from college for the summer. For the purposes of this book guide, the book is treated as having five separate sections of six consecutive chapters.

Chapters 1 – 6 introduce the Benitez family and situate them within the culturally rich and economically poor neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn. The Darcy family, a wealthy black family, moves into the house across the street from them, initiating a romance between Janae, the eldest Benitez daughter, and Ainsley, the eldest Darcy son. Darius Darcy, the younger brother, and Zuri Benitez, narrator of the story, take an instant disliking to each other. The Benitez family hosts a welcome-back dinner for Janae, followed by a riotous block party in Bushwick which shows the Darcy brothers just how far from Manhattan they have come. Zuri talks to Madrina, the spiritual guide of the neighborhood, for advice on how to stop the budding romance between Janae and Ainsley, but is encouraged not to interfere.

Chapters 7 – 12 see Zuri and Janae explore their relationship with the Darcy family in more depth. Ainsley and Janae become a couple, much to Zuri’s chagrin, and even Zuri’s best friend Charlise cannot seem to understand her hostility towards the Darcys and towards Darius in particular. Later, a cocktail party hosted by the Darcy family goes awry as Janae and Ainsley break up and the youngest Benitez sisters embarrass their family with their gossiping. Zuri goes on a date with a young man named Warren who goes to Darius’ school but is more down-to-earth given that he comes from the projects.

Chapters 13 – 18 see a progression in Zuri and Warren’s relationship, as they feel closer than ever to each other after another successful date. Zuri goes to visit Howard University, her dream school, thanks to her sister Janae’s generosity in purchasing the bus tickets for her. There, she performs an original poem at a student café and receives generous applause, feeling proud and happy until she spots Darius in the crowd, also clapping. She joins him, his sister, and his friend Carrie at their table and eventually goes with the Darcy siblings to meet their grandmother before Darius drives him and Zuri home to Bushwick. The pair find themselves kissing after a pitstop for fried chicken, having put aside their assumptions about each other long enough to acknowledge their mutual attraction.

Chapters 19 – 24 reveal complications in the relationship between Darius and Zuri. They fight in the car ride home to Bushwick when Darius reveals he is the reason Ainsley and Janae broke up. Then, he warns Zuri to stay away from Warren, telling her the latter once leaked nude photos of Darius’ sister to everyone at school. Zuri ends things with Warren and grants Darius a chance to go on a date with her. They have a great time together and both feel they are falling in love with one another quickly. However, their next date is disastrous, as Darius takes Zuri to Carrie’s fancy party and acts utterly unlike himself, causing Zuri to storm out on him and the party.

Finally, Chapters 25 – 30 wrap up the novel. Darius chases Zuri to the train station, where they barely have a moment to speak before seeing on Instagram that Zuri’s little sister Layla is at Carrie’s party with Warren, getting drunk. They rush back to the house and find that Carrie has rescued the girl and kept her safe. Zuri and Darius take Layla back to his house in Bushwick and, while she naps, they talk over their differences on the rooftop and decide that their love is more powerful even than their pride and their prejudice. That night, the spiritual guide, Madrina, passes away, and their neighborhood is altered forever. Her nephew, Colin, inherits the building she owns which is the same building in which the Benitez family lives. He signs a deal with a developer and forces the Benitez family to move away from Bushwick, opening their eyes to a whole new part of town and giving them a new start, though Zuri and Darius hold on to each other through the changes and remain together.

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Book Review: Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Talia Franks Book Review adaptation , Black protagonist , books , family , marginalized communities , Pride and Prejudice , race , Review , Young Adult 2

Pride and Prejudice has been adapted over and over again, but I think I have found my new favorite in Ibi Zoboi’s Pride. [1] The book is narrated in the first person by Zuri Benitez, a seventeen year old girl living in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The story starts at the beginning of summer vacation, when two important occurrences kick the events of the book into high gear: Zuri’s older sister, Janae, returns from her first year of college, and a new, incredibly rich, family moves in across the street.

There were a great deal of adaptational choices that I loved about this book, but one that I especially appreciated was the most obvious shift, that of the racial and ethnic backgrounds of the main characters. Since we read from Zuri’s perspective, we get to see the great pride that she has in her Afro-Latinx roots, not only through her internal narration, but also through her actions and in her in interactions with other characters.

Another change that I greatly appreciated was the addition of the character “Madrina”. She is the owner of the apartment building that the Benitez family lives in, and a priestess of the love goddess Ochún. Zuri frequently goes to Madrina for advice and comfort, and is such a lively and full character that I absolutely adored. That Madrina’s nephew, Colin, will inherit the apartment building is an analog to how in the original Pride and Prejudice , due to the lack of property rights afforded to women, none of the Bennet sisters could inherit their father’s land when he died, and so the property would go to their cousin, William Collins. (For those of you reading this from a adaptation-review position more than a standalone-book position, I’ve included a list below of the analogous characters & some major & minor changes in how they are related.)

It has been a while since I sat down to read the original Pride and Prejudice , but given that the book was written and published over 200 years ago, many things had to be changed, especially with regard to the fact that in the original context, the endgame was always marriage for love and/or economic security. In this updated context, however, while the world of the Benitez sisters does include love and desire for economic success, it is a desire for economic success upon their own merits. All five girls have independent dreams, goals, and aspirations, independent of any man.

I loved this book. I loved how it dove into the difficulties of gentrification, I loved how it unabashedly praised and upheld family unity and community, and I loved how it explored the blending of traditions new and old. What I did not love was the lack of the smallest hint of anything that slightly indicated queer folk inhabited the same planet as the people in this book. Don’t get me wrong, the love story was beautiful and unfolded with glorious complexity, and it’s an adaptation of a heterosexual romance, so I’m fine with that being the main pairing. But come on, would it kill to at least throw a bone and include a queer couple in the high school party scene? Or at the poetry reading? Or when touring the college campus? I don’t do star ratings on this blog, but if I did this book would be n + 1 queer characters short of five.

Being resigned to a lack of queer representation in this book aside, I found it to be a quick and easy read — two hours out of a Saturday morning when I needed to shut my brain off schoolwork for a short while — and reading about this last summer in Zuri’s childhood was exactly what I think I needed. The whole book takes place in the summer between her junior and senior years of high school, and she spends a great deal of it writing poetry and cultivating her college entry essay, bits of which are interspersed throughout the novel and greatly enhance the narrative. Her focus is very much centered around Howard University, and Pride pulls a fair bit from Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates as a major source of Zuri’s inspiration.

Zuri’s enchantment with Howard and the concern that she has for her hood and her community are what shape Pride , even more than the romance that forms from the bare bones of Pride and Prejudice . Ibi Zoboi’s story augments Jane Austen’s, but also takes a completely different shape that is all its own. If I’m being honest, were the names changed completely and were I less familiar with the source material I could easily see this being taken for a completely autonomous narrative. (That said I don’t think that autonomous narratives exist because all literature builds on previous texts, and sometimes tracing the genealogy of a narrative is actually vital, but that’s a whole other can of worms).

So, if you’re looking for a retelling of a classic that has both fluff and nuance, I think that this is a solid pick. Happy reading!

[1] Sorry Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Adaptational notes:

Zuri Benitez = Lizzy Bennet

Janae Benitez = Jane Bennet

Marisol Benitez = Mary Bennet

Layla Benitez = Lydia Bennet

Kayla Benitez = Kitty Bennet

Darius Darcy = Fitzwilliam Darcy

Ainsley Darcy = Charles Bingley

Georgia Darcy = Georgiana Darcy

Warren = George Wickham

Colin = William Collins

Charlise = Charlotte Lucas

Catherine Darcy = Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Carrie = Caroline Bingley / Anne de Bourgh

Major & minor differences in how people are related to each other: Ainsley/Bingley is a Darcy. Carrie is simply a friend, and not his sister. She is someone that Darius’ grandmother, Catherine, approves of, and is thus also a substitute for Anne de Bourgh. Layla and Kayla are twins. Colin is not the cousin of the Benitez sisters, but the nephew of their landlady. He has declared romantic feelings toward Janae, not Zuri, in contrast to Mr. Collins, who proposed to Lizzy. Warren’s family has nothing to do with Darcy’s family; they are connected because they go to the same school.

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[…] the relationship between literary texts, is at play here as well. Take, for example, Pride by Ibi Zoboi. The YA novel calls itself a “Pride and Prejudice Remix” and necessarily draws heavily from the […]

Book Reviews in Review Part II: Books that Center Blackness – Word-for-Sense and Other Stories February 26, 2020 @ 08:00

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Pride by Ibi Zoboi

April 9, 2019 by Sophia Leave a Comment

Perhaps I began this book with unreasonably high expectations, but I left frustrated and disappointed. Zuri Benitez is the Elizabeth Bennet character. She lives in an apartment in Brooklyn with her parents and her four sisters: Janae, Marisol, Layla, and Kayla. She is of Dominican/Haitian descent, and has never really been outside of her neighborhood. She loves, and is fiercely protective of her family and neighborhood, though, and is scared of what gentrification will mean for it. So when the Darcy’s, a rich, black family, moves into the newly renovated mansion across the street, she takes an immediate dislike to all of them.

Janae is just back from Syracuse University in New York and is very excited about her expanded world. Janae immediately hits it off with the elder Darcy brother, Ainsley, while Zuri has awkward moments with Darius, the younger brother. Zuri’s two youngest sisters, Layla and Kayla, flirt as much as their baby teenage selves can handle. Marisol, instead of being obsessed with music and God, is obsessed with money and making money–a slight change that I found clever.

One of my main problems with this book, is that besides the number and names of some of the characters, I couldn’t see why it was pretending to be a retelling of  Pride and Prejudice . Elizabeth Bennet is one of my favorite characters in literature. She is smart, funny, and witty. She is comfortable wherever she goes and quietly stands up to those around her with confidence. Zuri Benitiez is scared and defensive. Her main focus the summer before her senior year of high school is on writing her college application essay to Howard University. Instead of thoughtful, witty banter, Zuri rolls her eyes, and when she’s really upset, she rolls her eyes hard. Part of my problem was that I didn’t realize this was a young adult book. I expected the characters to be older and caring about things other than SAT’s and college essays.

However, the other problem was that the characters and their issues did not feel developed. I’ve read young adult books that tear my heart out, but I couldn’t feel much for anyone in this book. Zuri’s parents are barely shadow characters. There is a Colin character who gets together with Zuri’s friend, Charlize. The only drama is that Zuri doesn’t really like Colin. Charlize seems to like Colin and has her own prospects, with her own job and a basketball scholarship to Duke. The original really plays up the obnoxiousness of Colin, the tension between Elizabeth and her mother when she refuses his proposal, and Elizabeth’s horror that Charlotte would be forced to marry someone so ridiculous because her circumstances require it for stability.

The relationship between Zuri and Darius was also not very satisfying. Zuri was immediately and rudely defensive with Darius. It was hard to see what Darius saw in her. In addition, there wasn’t much development of their relationship. They hate each other, suddenly they’re making out, and then Zuri’s mad at him again. Darius doesn’t make any grand, secret gestures (he’s really too young for that anyway). There is a character named Warren who plays the Mr. Wickham character, but it does not pack the same punch.

Zoboi brought up some interesting themes, including gentrification, racism, and class issues, but she didn’t address these issues in a full, satisfying way. Again, Zuri would act defensive and angry at the rich, mostly white people moving into and changing her neighborhood. When her family is forced out of their apartment, it could have been a very meaningful moment, but it wasn’t. I thought the best writing in the book was the poetry that Zuri writes in spots throughout the book.

All in all, I think this might have been a better book if Zoboi had not stamped this story onto a  Pride and Prejudice  template and, instead, really dug into the issues of gentrification and class and how they affected her family.

You can find all of my reviews on my blog .

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Book Review: Pride by Ibi Zoboi

“a pride and prejudice remix”.

Before I get into this review, let’s talk about how I found Pride by Ibi Zoboi, because it’s bit of a coincidence and a journey. Recently I decided that I wanted to read books from the library instead of purchasing them. So, I dug around my room and found my old library card. After many failed attempts to log into my online account, and several forgotten pin emails later, I discovered that my card was expired. I went over to my local library the next day to renew it, when I stumbled on Pride sitting on a display stand in the new arrivals section. What caught my attention was the cover art. It looks like fancy gold-plated wall-art with a beautiful couple on it. “A Pride and Prejudice Remix” was printed at the top and I immediately picked it up. When I read it was about an Afro-Latina in NYC, I was sold, and checked the book out that day. The funny coincidence was that prior to that, I had been re-reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I am a massive Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice fan. I felt like I had found a little gem with Zoboi’s updated version of this iconic story.

Pride is about Zuri Benitez, a Haitian-Dominican teen from Bushwick and the summer that changed her life. Zuri deals with her rowdy sisters, college applications and the rich family that has just moved across the street: The Darcy’s, who are just another example of the changes in Zuri’s beloved neighborhood. On top of that, Zuri can not stand Darius Darcy, the handsome, but incredibly stuck-up and judgmental son of the Darcy’s. All the while her eldest sister, Janae is falling for Darius’s brother, Ainsley. What ensues are a bunch of cute and funny moments between Zuri, her friends, family and her growing romance with Darius.

A Wonderful Take on Pride and Prejudice

Zobio captures the soul and heart of New York City and the lives of those who   come from immigrant homes and communities. The characters and the neighborhood come right off the page and you can feel yourself right there, in Zuri’s stoop with her sisters. Zuri is such a delightful narrator. She is quick-witted, snappy, observant, opinionated and prideful. She’s also unintentionally funny and super relatable. Watching her relationship with Darius evolve from adversaries to lovers was such a delight.

Pride is a contemporary reimagining of P ride and Prejudice and a great one at that. Even though you know who each character is supposed to be and how their storylines will unfold, you are still pleasantly surprised by what transpires and how. In this version, Zoboi tackles a number of themes: from the acceptance of change, gentrification, family, class, cultural identity, feminism, and growing up. One of the major conflicts between Zuri and Darius/The Darcy’s is this conflict around class and blackness. What is blackness? How are black people supposed to behave around each other and in white spaces? Zuri is very proud to be black and what that represents for her. She’s proud of the rough edges of her neighborhood and her community. But Darius, who is also black, doesn’t think about race the way Zuri does. He grew up sheltered, in a wealthy family, around white kids, but he is still affected by racism.   As a result, we get to see them spar around their thoughts around culture and race.

Some Shortcomings

For me, one of the book’s shortcoming are the sections of poetry. I understand that this was Zuri’s way of interpreting the events happening in her life, but I found them awkward and felt that they slowed down the pace. I almost wanted to skip over them, but I didn’t because it felt like I’d be missing out on a part of Zuri’s characterization. Which is a testament to Zoboi’s ability to write such a likable character.

In the End...

If you love romance stories, Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice, you should definitely read  Pride.  It offers a fresh take on this classic love story and features a cast of diverse and endearing characters that feel familiar, yet fresh.

Have you read Pride ? Tell me what you thought about it in the comments below!

Hi! Shantal here. I’m a writer and a storyteller. I created  Shantal Writes  to share my experiences with writing fiction. I also provide new writers with tips, tools, and writing advice. I hope you find something helpful while you’re here!

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The Concepts of Identity in Ibi Zoboi’s Remix “Pride and Prejudice” Essay

Ibi Zoboi’s remix of Pride and Prejudice explores different philosophical and moral questions. Embracing the worldwide novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Ibi Zoboi’s remix addresses the essential issues of race stereotypes and gentrification’s influence on identity formation. The novel’s characters move from unfounded prejudices to the understanding that race does not imply the material level and type of personality. The surrounding atmosphere and cultural specificities influence the characters’ personalities throughout the story and change their attitude towards the particular minorities and races. The essential concept that Zoboi addresses in her story is identity formation. The author of the book explores identity through family and cultural perspectives.

The novel depicts several families who have different wealth and personal relationships. Zuri, coming from a low-income family, hates rich people since they mostly proclaim gentrification as a positive change. The family, especially Zuri’s sister Janae, tries to persuade the girl that the prejudices against black people should be eliminated. (Zoboi, 2019). Being a member of a low-income family, Zuri’s personality is affected by living in such conditions. She treats all wealthy people as evil due to the inequity of opportunities people are born with. In expressing the negative attitudes towards Darius at the story’s beginning, she implies that her identity is based on racial and material presuppositions caused by living and family conditions.

Thanks to Madrina’s guidance and family members’ support, Zuri realizes that differences make people unique. Madrina’s Bushwick can be considered as a prototype of a supportive family. During the decisive periods of her life, Zuri seeks Madrina’s support (Zoboi, 2019). Her identity changes positively due to the understanding that people should not be treated only by their status and race. For example, she realizes that Warren, coming from the same strata, has malicious intentions only thanks to Darius, who she hated most (Zoboi, 2019). This fact influences her identity and diminishes the role of the stereotype about race and wealth in her personality. Therefore, the author believes that the conditions in which a person was raised and the family support determine the identity-formation direction.

The cultural aspect and the surrounding political and economic conditions also can influence identity formation. Zuri’s character is strong, and she is faithful to her origins and culture. She believes that Darius is arrogant only because he comes from a prosperous family. She keeps in mind all the negative prejudices about wealth and race due to cultural peculiarities. First of all, Zuri is scared of the gentrification process, which can abolish her and her family’s everyday lives. Zuri respects the cultural peculiarities of the minority she belongs to. As a result, she considers all the outsiders and intruders, especially rich ones, potentially dangerous for her friends and family. The pride of being a member of a particular society and the desire to protect what she loves makes her personality strong. As a result, the author of the book claims that identity formation depends on cultural background.

Therefore, the remix of the well-known novel Pride and Prejudice in the Ibi Zoboi representation addresses the essential question of identity-formation. The story’s main character realizes that identity is a complicated phenomenon and that it cannot be conditioned by particular factors such as race or status. Factors that influence this multifaceted process are culture and family. Through these social determinants, people learn what personal pride means and respect other people’s pride.

Zoboi, I. (2019). Pride: A pride & prejudice remix . Balzer & Bray/Harperteen.

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IvyPanda . "The Concepts of Identity in Ibi Zoboi’s Remix "Pride and Prejudice"." October 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-concepts-of-identity-in-ibi-zobois-remix-pride-and-prejudice/.

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StarTribune

Review: 'pride,' by ibi zoboi.

Ibi Zoboi's first novel, the National Book Award-nominated "American Street," tackled questions of immigration, poverty and violence in a decaying Detroit.

Her second, a "Pride and Prejudice" remix, uses a lighter touch but still paints a picture of a changing neighborhood, this time Brooklyn's Bushwick.

"It's a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it's a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up," 17-year-old Zuri Benitez reflects as the wealthy black Darcy family moves into a rehabbed mini-mansion across the street.

The arrival of the Darcys and their two handsome teenage sons signals change for the five Haitian-Dominican Benitez sisters across the street. That makes Zuri, the family's protector and "hard candy shell," hold even tighter to the community she loves.

She takes an instant dislike to second son Darius Darcy, even as her older sister Janae is smitten by Darius' brother Ainsley. Darius wears his pants a little too tight and doesn't acknowledge the other young men on the block. But the real issue is that he seems to consider Zuri's family beneath him.

In moments like this, Zoboi captures the sharp social satire that keeps Austen's novel fresh two centuries later. And her novel turns a lens on a Brooklyn neighborhood where expensive organic food is turning up at the corner bodega, and white hipsters are encroaching on a community held together by block parties.

There's also tension between the old-money Darcys and the up-and-coming immigrant Benitezes. But for much of the novel, Darius remains a cipher. Zuri makes it clear that she's not impressed by him or his money.

The novel's emotional center revolves around Zuri's relationships with her sisters, her best friend, the regulars in the neighborhood and Madrina, a wise woman and Santeria priestess who owns the building they live in.

As Zuri and Darius warily circle each other, she tries to finish her application for Howard University while writing poems that show her lyrical side and take us deep into the neighborhood and its residents.

"If I listen closely enough, I can hear Bushwick's volume turning down real slowly," she reflects, early in the story. "Anyone who's been in Bushwick long enough is like a musician, and when they leave, we lose a sound."

Zoboi's "Pride" is a love letter — not to Jane Austen, but to a neighborhood and a community in the throes of change.

Trisha Collopy is a Star Tribune copy editor. • 612-673-4644

Pride By: Ibi Zoboi. Publisher: HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray, 289 pages, $17.99.

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Novels That Freshen Up Some Well-Worn Classics

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By Mj Franklin

• Dec. 21, 2018

If there’s one staple of entertainment these days, it’s the adaptation. TV shows are drawing inspiration from books (“My Brilliant Friend” and “The Haunting of Hill House”). Movies are reinventing treasures of the past, sometimes from a studio’s own vault (looking at you, Disney). And novels, especially ones for the young adult audience, are reworking classic stories that came before them. These three novels put a contemporary twist on canonical tales about young people facing the challenges of building their own futures.

Ibi Zoboi’s charming PRIDE (Balzer + Bray, 304 pp., $17.99; ages 12 and up) isn’t an adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” so much as a “remix” of Jane Austen’s tale of unexpected love, as the novel’s cover says. Instead of Elizabeth, we meet Zuri, a high school student living in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She has her life mapped out: When she graduates, Zuri wants to go to Howard University, where she hopes to collect the “wisdoms found in old, dusty books written by wrinkled brown hands … and take them with me back home to sprinkle all over Bushwick like rain showers.” Boys aren’t a part of the plan.

That all changes when the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street. Darius Darcy, their aloof son, quickly becomes Zuri’s nemesis. But despite a rough start, Zuri and Darius soon find a relationship brewing.

“ Pride” winks continually at its source material: Instead of the “Bennet” family, we meet the “Benetiz” family, “Jane” becomes “Janae,” “Lady Catherine de Bourgh” becomes “paternal grandmother, Mrs. Catherine Darcy” and so on. One pleasure of the book, then, is watching how the blistering romance between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy maps onto characters so different from Austen’s original creations. Yet that steadfast loyalty to Austen is also the biggest hurdle the book faces. By adhering so closely to the plotting of its source material, “Pride” can be a bit predictable, even to readers with only a cursory knowledge of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Instead, the more compelling and unexpected romance of the novel is not the courtship between Zuri and Darius: It’s the love story between Zuri and her home, a neighborhood threatened by gentrification. Rather than simply say gentrification is bad, “Pride ” holds a nuanced conversation about the ways that an influx of wealth can dismantle a neighborhood and help it at the same time, as seen through the eyes of a girl who must navigate that change.

“My neighborhood is made of love,” Zuri notes. “But it’s money and buildings and food and jobs that keep it alive — and even I have to admit that the new people moving in, with their extra money and dreams, can sometimes make things better.” What she wants is to “figure out a way to make both sides of Bushwick work.”

It is that story — the story of an ambitious girl struggling to cherish her home, even in the face of change — that gives “Pride” its spark and its heart.

Rather than revisiting a classic tale of love, THE BONELESS MERCIES (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 352 pp., $18.99; ages 12 and up) , by April Genevieve Tucholke, goes the opposite route: It explores death, war and glory by adapting “Beowulf.” The book follows a group of young girls, the titular Boneless Mercies, who are trained killers, traveling across Vorseland, putting the old and sick out of their misery. But one of the Mercies, Frey, wants more than the death trade has to offer. She wants to kill not for money but for glory: “I would try my hand at greatness, and see where it led. Glory . I wanted to touch it. Taste it.” With glory in mind, the Boneless Mercies set out to kill the dreaded Blue Vee beast, a giant terrorizing the land.

It’s a promising take on the oft-adapted epic poem. Unfortunately, “The Boneless Mercies” becomes overwhelmed by the task of expanding “Beowulf” into a new, distinct fantasy world. The meandering plot is encumbered by details that offer little payoff and a few characters who are clichéd and flat, even when we do dive into their back stories. As a result the novel can at times seem as unrewarding as the fate our heroes hope to escape.

These stumbles are a shame because they obscure the empowering tale at the heart of the novel, starting with its deeply feminist update to its source material. Our heroes are women, and their antagonists are women, too. They are, at times, brutal and ruthless and violent in ways that cast in stark relief the reductive portrayal of women in so many of the stories that populate our canon. And Tucholke’s characters are all searching, in their own way, for justice and equality. “The hearts of Boneless Mercies beat just as strongly as any Vorse warriors,” the book declares. In moments like that, “The Boneless Mercies” feels like a cathartic war cry advocating for the power of girls and women.

Hiding in the book are also several thoughtful and refreshing themes about the genre of the epic itself. For instance, toward the end, “The Boneless Mercies” flips the very idea of glory that its heroes seek. “I gave you a purpose, a quest, a chance to be noticed by the gods. I gave you this. Never forget,” the fearsome Blue Vee beast proclaims in the book’s final act. Frey responds, “I am in your debt, and I won’t forget.” It’s both an engaging moment of camaraderie between two foes and a dynamic critique of the hero’s journey: Who is granted honor and glory, and at what cost does it come?

Anna-Marie McLemore combines several tales — “The Wild Swans,” “The Ugly Duckling” and “Snow White and Rose-Red” — and transforms them into the enchanting BLANCA & ROJA (Feiwel & Friends, 371 pp., $17.99; ages 13 and up) . The book follows the plight of the del Cisne sisters, Blanca and Roja, who are doomed to a family curse: Each generation of del Cisnes will have two daughters, but they will eventually be separated when one is turned into a swan. Which daughter will it be? The swans decide.

When Blanca learns the secret to saving herself from turning into a swan, she resolves to use that advice to save her sister instead. Seeing Blanca’s sudden determination in the swans’ game, Roja believes she has been abandoned and resolves to thwart her sister and stay human herself.

Intertwined with the tale of the del Cisne sisters are the journeys of Page and Yearling, both outcasts — Page, who feels constrained by gender roles (“ Him and her , I kinda like getting called both. It’s like all of me gets seen then. Doesn’t usually happen, though. Most people can’t get their head around boy and she at the same time, I guess”), and Yearling, who faces tremendous physical abuse at the hands of his cousin. The two flee into the forest, each for separate reasons, looking for escape. But rather than offering solace, the forest wraps them into Blanca and Roja’s quest. To survive, all four will have to find one another, and find themselves.

Though it’s full of enchantments, what mostly makes “Blanca & Roja” magical is not the spells that animate the plot but the bond of sisterhood that brings to life Blanca and Roja’s struggle. This is more than a story about girls who are threatened with being turned into swans — it is about unwavering loyalty to family, and the hurt that comes when that bond seems betrayed. But what elevates “Blanca & Roja” from a good adaptation to a brilliant one is not just how the book reinvents its source material — it’s the ideas that McLemore layers on top of it: her own exploration of sisterhood, identity, the yearning to be seen that we all feel and the question of how we protect the things we love most.

“The story of the ugly duckling was never about the cygnet discovering he is lovely,” McLemore writes. “It is not a story about realizing you have become beautiful. It is about the sudden understanding that you are something other than what you thought you were, and that what you are is more beautiful than what you once thought you had to be.” All these elements combine to make a story so complex and original, you’ll forget “Blanca & Roja” is not a classic tale in its own right.

MJ Franklin is a social editor at The Times and a former editor at Mashable.

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Gentrification in Pride by Ibi Zoboi Essay Example

In the book Pride by Ibi Zoboi we see the effect that gentrification has on the main character, Zuri, when the Darcys, A wealthy family, move into her neighborhood. Gentrification is “A process in which a poor area (as of a city) experiences an influx of middle-class or wealthy people who renovate and rebuild homes and businesses and which often results in an increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents.”(Merriam-Webster). Ibi Zobois Pride demonstrates that one of the most devastating economic impacts of gentrification is when long-time residents can no longer afford their homes. 

In Pride Zuri doesnt agree with gentrification, as the Darcys move in she says “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up. But it’s not just the junky stuff they’ll get rid of. People can be thrown away too like last night’s trash left out on sidewalks or pushed to the edge of wherever all broken things go.”(Ibi Zoboi 1) This shows how Zuri knows the effects of Gentrification on poorer neighborhoods, much like her own and she doesn't want her family and neighbors to go through it. At this point, she does not agree with gentrification because of its negative effects on the less wealthy people. Zuri begins to immediately notice the impacts of gentrification on her neighborhood “Do you see that rent is going up all over the place and people are not getting paid more?”(Ibi Zoboi) This demonstrates the disastrous impact of gentrification as rent goes up, people don't receive higher salaries and therefore can no longer afford to pay their rent which causes them to have to leave their homes in search of new residences. In the article “Stanford professor’s study finds gentrification disproportionately affects minorities”, It says “A new study by a Stanford sociologist has determined that the negative effects of gentrification are felt disproportionately by minority communities, whose residents have fewer options of neighborhoods they can move to compared to their white counterparts.” (Feder)  This indicates how gentrification not only affects families by not allowing them to afford their homes but it also affects them because it is harder for minorities, much like Zuri's family, to find new homes after gentrification has influenced them. 

 In the article “Examining the Negative Impacts of Gentrification.” It is written that “Additionally since investors can earn more money from selling buildings, real-estate dealers have less incentive to improve the buildings. The real estate dealers instead sell the buildings at higher prices.”(Chong)   This describes how instead of improving living conditions for the initial tenants real estate dealers can sell the homes for an increased price due to the increase in demand as a result of gentrification. This is shown to be true on page 266 of Pride as Ibi Zoboi writes “Colins selling the building. A developer offered him a lot of money.”(Ibi Zoboi)This once again showcases the negative impact of gentrification as it leads homeowners to sell their homes resulting in the eviction of many people. In the Stanford article“ “Stanford professor’s study finds gentrification disproportionately affects minorities” it is written that “Recognizing that a primary cause of gentrification-related displacement is increased costs for current residents, the authors looked at individuals with low or missing credit scores who might be more vulnerable to displacement and at the same time might face limitations in housing searches if they did move.” (Feder)  This portrays how if current residents were to move as a result of no longer being able to afford their homes due to gentrification it would be more difficult for them to find proper housing due to their financial status.

As shown in Pride by Ibn Zoboi a harmful impact of gentrification occurs when long-term tenants are forced out of their homes due to the rent increase. This is shown by the increase in rent and the difficulty for the tenants to find new affordable homes as a result of newly gentrifying neighborhoods.

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Ibi Zoboi. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06256-404-7

Reviewed on: 08/13/2018

Genre: Children's

Other - 304 pages - 978-0-06-256407-8

Paperback - 304 pages - 978-0-06-256405-4

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Study Guide: Pride by Ibi Zoboi (SuperSummary) Paperback – April 8, 2022

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Analyzing literature can be hard — we make it easy! This in-depth study guide offers summaries & analyses for all 30 chapters of Pride by Ibi Zoboi. Get more out of your reading experience and build confidence with study guides proven to: raise students’ grades, save teachers time, and spark dynamic book discussions. SuperSummary Study Guides are written by experienced educators and literary scholars with advanced degrees in relevant fields. Here's what's inside:

• Chapter-by-chapter summaries — Refresh your memory of key events and big ideas
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• Print length 58 pages
• Language English
• Publication date April 8, 2022
• Dimensions 6 x 0.14 x 9 inches
• ISBN-13 979-8448983085
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09X4R9X1N
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (April 8, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 58 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8448983085
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.14 x 9 inches
• #18,373 in Study Guides (Books)

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by Ibi Zoboi

Rating: 3 (1 vote)

Tags: Set in United States of America Female author

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Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-30

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Further Reading & Resources

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first they want to do is clean it up. But it’s not just the junky stuff they’ll get rid of. People can be thrown away too, like last night’s trash left out on sidewalks…”

The book’s opening line sets the tone , casting a critical eye towards gentrification, one of the central themes. A simile is used to compare people to trash, driving home how damaging gentrification and the class disparities it illuminates are.

“Something about the Darcys moving in makes me want to hold Bushwick a little bit tighter and for a little bit longer, as if it’s slowly slipping away—like Janae, and high school…”

This quote foreshadows the changes that are to come in the book. Zuri is reluctant to change—herself, her sister, her home, her neighborhood—but will have change foisted upon her. Her fear that the world she knows is “slipping away” will ultimately be realized by the book’s end.

“I’ve seen him do little things like this all my life. And I know in my heart of hearts that their kind of love is very rare.”

Zuri describes her dad, Papi, doing small acts of kindness for her mom, Mama, like bringing her a glass of water. Her recognition of these deeds as true love shows that she recognizes the value and rarity of love—and that true love isn’t about grand displays of affection, but about small, intentional acts. Mama and Papi’s relationship also demonstrates a tight-knit family unit and the example Zuri upholds when considering her own relationships.

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PAMLA 2024 CFP_African American Literature and Culture Session

The 2024 PAMLA Conference will be held in Palm Springs, CA from November 6-10. We invite abstract submissions to a guaranteed, standing session on comics and graphic narratives; abstracts can be submitted through the PAMLA conference website:  https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/

The “African American Literature and Culture” session is open to all papers that explore some aspect of African American literature, media, or culture, but we are particularly interested in papers attuned to some facet of the conference theme, “Translation in Action.”

 Some topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Exploring "other" through the linguistic, metaphysical, and/or physical translation of identity (i.e. Double Consciousness, Nigrescence, Code-switching, assimilation, tokenism, etc.)
• i.e.,  Cowboy Carter  as an expression of Black Southern identity, Spike Lee's  Da Five Bloods  exploring the complex identity and politics of Black Vietnam War veterans,  Dear White People  (film or television), Spike Lee's  Bamboozled
• Consider the relationship between names/naming and Black nationalism
• Translating Black (Intersectional) Feminisms in African American literature, media or culture
• Consider contrasting Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Jane Austen's  Pride and Prejudice  and Ibi Zoboi's  Pride,  or Margaret Atwood's  Handmaid's Tale  and Toni Morrison's  Beloved
• Explore Morgan Parker's  Magical Negro  or  There are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé
• Consider the translation of  She's Gotta Have It  (1986) for contemporary audiences in  She's Gotta Have It  (2017-2019)
• Contrast Alice Walker's  The Color Purple  (1982) with Stephen Speilberg's  The C olor Purple  (1985) and Marsha Norman's  The C olor Purple  (musical) to explore how the story was translated for various audiences
• Harlem Renaissance and global Black Literary Movements of the early-mid 20th century
• Explorying African American folktales (Bre'r Rabbit, Bre'r Wolf, Bre'r Bear, Flying Africans, etc.)
• Could also consider contrasting African American regional dialects
• "Black-washing" as a tool for translating traditionally White characters to diverse audiences (i.e. Louis and Claudia from Anne Rice's  Interview with the Vampire  or Bonnie from  The Vampire Diaries )
• Hip Hop Studies (exploring various themes and concepts of Hip Hop as it relates to translation)