American Streetauthor Ibi Zoboi is following up on her widely acclaimed debut with a littlePride.
If this sounds at all like a timely update ofPride and Prejudice, thats very much by design.
The author has exclusively shared the books cover (with art by Billelis and T.S.
Credit: Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images
Abe) with EW, as well as an excerpt.
Read on below, and pre-orderPridehereahead of its Sept. 18 release.
They gutted and renovated the best thing on our blockthat run-down, weed-infested, boarded-up house.
HarperCollins
My big sister, Janae, is coming home from her first year of college.
Mamas got a Welcome Back dinner all planned out.
I fluff up my thick, kinky fro and throw on an old pair of jean shorts.
Theyre hand-me-downs from Janae, and theyre even tighter than they were last summer.
Mama has joked that my curves have finally kicked in at seventeennot that I was waiting for them.
The Haitian-Dominican Benitez sisters already get enough attention on the street and at school as it is.
I get it, though.
Im about to head into the kitchen when I see it.
Across the street, a blacked-out SUV pulls up in front of the new mini-mansion.
We all took bets on what these fools were going to look likeblackand rich, or white and rich.
One things for sure: they had to be rich to move intothathouse.
In no time, Marisol, whos two years younger, is standing right beside me.
Not because shes the fastest, but because she has the most to lose with this bet.
Come on, white boy, come on, Marisol says while clapping and pushing up her thick glasses.
Lets make this money!
Give us our money!
But then the driver hops out, along with two passengers, and we cant believe our eyes.
Stepping out of the back of the car are two of the finest boys weve ever seen.
Fine, black teenage boys.
Marisol and I have definitely lost the bet, but no one cares.
The entire family gathers on the sidewalk and look as if theyve stepped into a different country.
The man has on a sky-blue button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and he keeps his sunglasses on.
And then there are those two boys.
Layla is the first to say anything, as usual.
Give us our money, Marisol, Kayla says.
Those boys look like theyre from One Direction or something, Layla says.
Look at how theyre dressed.
I know a baller when I see one.
And no rapper will be wearing them kinda shoes.
Theyre more like Wrong Direction.
They dont look like they belong here, I say.
Are they our age?
Lets go say hi.
Kayla grabs her twins hand and rushes out of the bedroom.
Kayla yells from downstairs.
Outside, Marisol and Layla are already across the street, talking with the two boys.
Their parents must have gone inside.
Kayla grabs my arm, and before I know it, Im headed across the street too.
Both of the boys look to be about my age, seventeen or so.
They have smooth brown faces that look unrealthe forehead, eyebrows, and cheekbones of models.
One of them is a little taller and slimmer than the other, but they definitely look alike.
They have to be brothers.
And this is ZZ from the block.
Aka Zuri Luz Benitez.
Layla pronounces my whole name while pointing at me.
My friends call me ZZ.
He takes my hand but only grabs the tips of my fingers and shakes them softly.
I quickly pull away, but he keeps staring down at me out from under his thick eyelashes.
Nothing, this boy named Darius says as he rubs his chin and fidgets with his collar.
Hes still looking at me.
So I roll my eyes at him.
Im Ainsley, the other boy says, giving me a firm shake.
We, uh, just moved in.
Nice to meet you, I reply, using the good manners that Mama has drilled into us.
I cant wait to explore Bushwick.
Your sister has been telling us all about it, Ainsley says.
Hes smiling way too hard.
And like ignore my baby brother, hes just grumpy that we had to leave Manhattan.
Dude, hey, I am not grumpy.
adjustment, Darius says, crossing his arms.
What a hardadjustmentfor you, I say, my curiosity about these boys turning off like a switch.
I give Darius my mean Bushwick mug, but it doesnt seem to register.
He just stands there with his upper lip curled up as if hes smelling his own stank attitude.
