Pride and Prejudice Remix!

Pride

By: Ibi Zoboi

Genre: YA Multicultural/Remix

Pages: 285

Published: 2018

Read:  February

4 out of 5 stars

A remix of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. BTW, I love the wording of “remix” versus “retelling”. I have not read Pride and Prejudice (I know, my bad), so I did not catch any of the similarities between the books except for the twist on names of the characters. After reading, I did look up plot summary to see if the stories progression was similar. The remix (retelling) was done well. This was the only remix I can remember reading that changed the ethnicity of the characters. I felt that was very clever and definitely will appeal to non-Caucasian teens who will be able to connect with the characters easily. I did appreciate the story, it was entertaining and very well written. Kudos to Zoboi!

An Empowering Novel

The Poet X

By: Elizabeth Acevedo

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Pages: 368

Published: 2018

Read:  December 2018

4 out of 5 stars

I love how REAL this book is. I think all readers (especially teens), no matter their ethnicity, will be able to relate to some aspect of this book. The reader gets to know and understand the ins and outs of Xiomara’s thoughts and feelings. With the book portraying a poet through the use of poetry the authenticity of story is enhanced. As a reader, one can feel that Acevedo carefully chose every word written and the powerful meaning behind it. All readers will resonate with every beautiful sentence. Acevedo writes about how to be a girl, a sister, a daughter and a teen in today's difficult world.

It’s an important read for everyone.