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by Ibi Zoboi

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Book summary.

Pride and Prejudice gets remixed in this smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic, starring all characters of color, from Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award finalist and author of American Street .

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. 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. She especially can't stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding. But 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. In a timely update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , critically acclaimed author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.

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"Starred Review. This Bushwick-set, contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice tackles gentriciation, Blackness, and romance with honesty, humor, and heart. This excellent coming-of-age take on a classic belongs on all YA shelves." - School Library Journal "A razor-sharp remix of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that deals in gentrification, racism, love, culture, and heritage, all helmed by intelligent teens in New York's Bushwick neighborhood." - Booklist "The plot moves too fast for substantial character growth on Zuri's part, and some elements feel contrived, but these flaws don't spoil a book which is not only a retelling, but an examination of timely issues, including class, blackness, and interracial prejudice. Legit" - Kirkus "[A] lively and innovative Pride and Prejudice retelling (starring a fully rounded Afro-Latinx YA character)" - The Horn Book

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Ibi Zoboi Author Biography

Ibi Zoboi holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her novel American Street was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Pride and My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich , a New York Times bestseller. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough . Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children.

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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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A teacher's notes on reading, pride, by ibi zoboi.

Yesterday I read Pride , a YA novel based on Austen’s classic, set in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. (Very unusual for me to read a book in a day.) Typically I am not excited about books that riff classic literature (example, my disdain for “Pride and Prejudice with Zombies”) but Zoboi’s first book, American Street , is one of my favorite books, and definitely my favorite YA book, and I recommend it to at least a dozen students a year. 

My trust was well-founded. She adapts the essential plot elements to a modern day, Haitian-American family in a working class neighborhood which is gentrifying, most ostentatiously by the Darcy family, whose two boys, Ainsley and Darius, are “hella fine”. Zuri and her four sisters Janae, Marisol, Layla and Kayla, vie for their attention even as they “side-eye” their bougie arrogance and mini-mansion. 

I like Zoboi’s main characters (Zuri in Pride and Fabiola – Fab – in American Street ). These girls are unapologetic, smart, wordy, spirited and tough. The first person narration allows us to see their softer sides too. They also have a spiritual center, which is catered to by local women who sing, dance, chant and otherwise evoke the spirits necessary to get us through life. 

One thing that surprised me in this book was that Zuri doesn’t get to the bottom of Darius’s classism. He is afraid to stand up for her in front of his friends and family, and this is never resolved. When his grandma (the stand-in for Lady Catherine) disses her at the dinner table, all Darius can say is “Grandma!” but doesn’t otherwise spring into action until Zuri defends herself, as Elizabeth does, and leaves the house. 

Actually, come to think of it, Fitzwilliam Darcy doesn’t stand up to Lady Catherine in the original either. The worst thing he does is to roll his eyes with his back to her. Perhaps Zoboi is upholding Austen’s apparent point that you can’t rely on a man, no matter how good-looking, to fight your battles for you. 

I’m glad to have another Zoboi title to recommend to advanced readers this year. 

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Pride was such a good book!

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Review: 'Pride,' by Ibi Zoboi

YOUNG ADULT: A comedy of manners is really a love letter to a rapidly disappearing neighborhood.

By Trisha Collopy, Star Tribune

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.

When the Darcys throw a party to welcome their new neighbors, Mrs. Darcy awkwardly accepts the homemade pastelitos and Haitian fried pork the Benitezes bring to share. The party is later derailed when Zuri's younger sister Layla finds a glass of wine and starts spilling lines like, "We're bad and bougie up in this bitch."

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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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

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

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

IvyPanda . (2022) 'The Concepts of Identity in Ibi Zoboi’s Remix "Pride and Prejudice"'. 12 October.

IvyPanda . 2022. "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/.

1. 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/.

Bibliography

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/.

76 pages • 2 hours read

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.

Before You Read

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

Trace the evolution of Zuri’s and Darius’s respective transformations. How does each character evolve throughout the narrative , and how does this change allow them to come together at the end?

Zuri is vocal in her critique of gentrification, while also recognizing that bringing money into her neighborhood helps to support it practically. Explore the benefits and drawbacks of gentrification, citing concrete examples from the book itself.

Before the Darcys move in, the Benitez family is taking bets on whether they will be white or Black—and are surprised to learn that the new neighbors are rich and Black. Why does race matter? What does this say about the nature of gentrification?

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