When the wealthy African American Darcys move in across the street, proud Haitian-Dominican teen Zuri must deal with standoffish younger brother Darius and the reality that the family's move means Bushwick is being gentrified. This lively, innovative Pride and Prejudice retelling starring a fully rounded Afro-Latinx character hits the familiar notes of Austen's Bennet sisters while inventively modernizing the original's commentary about social class.

Seventeen-year-old Zuri Benitez deals with gentrification in her Brooklyn neighborhood and her own bias in this Pride and Prejudice remix.Zuri, or ZZ from the Block, loves her big, loud Haitian-Dominican family. She loves her Bushwick neighborhood. She doesn't love the gentrification changing her hood, "like my face and body when I was in middle school—familiar but changing right before my eyes." So when the rich Darcy family moves into the expensive renovated house across the street, she's skeptical even though they're also black. The Darcy brothers are handsome, but Zuri thinks Darius Darcy's a snob. She opts instead for Warren, the brothers' classmate and a boy who feels familiar. Austen fans will guess his true colors. When poet Zuri unexpectedly runs into Darius at an open mic, she begins to rethink her assessment of him, and the two, as expected, fall for each other. While Darius' attraction to Zuri makes sense, Zuri's doesn't seem to move beyond his physical attractiveness—odd for a character who's otherwise thoughtful and complex. The ending, both realistic and bittersweet, is a culmination of the book's examination of the costs of gentrification. 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 intraracial prejudice.Legit. (Fiction. 14-adult)

-It-s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood... the first thing they want to do is clean it up,- begins this Pride and Prejudice retelling that stands solidly on its own while cleverly paralleling Austen-s classic about five economically challenged sisters. In the role of sharp-tongued Lizzie Bennett is Zuri Benitez, who loves her family, her Haitian-Dominican heritage, and her ethnically diverse neighborhood: Brooklyn-s Bushwick. She-s less excited about the prospect of the neighborhood gentrifying, but the arrival of the handsome, wealthy black Darcy brothers, who move into a newly renovated mini-mansion on her block, catalyzes a plot studded with detailed nuances of culture clash. An ambitious poet with dreams of Howard University, Zuri (the family-s -hard candy shell, the protector-) fights her attraction to the younger Darius as her older sister, Janae, is swept up in Ainsley-s attentions. Zoboi (American Street) 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. Ages 13-up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (Sept.)