Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Can you say Gentrification, Boys and Girls?

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

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It is 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.  What those rich people don’t always know is that broken and forgotten neighborhoods […]

Thank You, Thank You, and My Local College Library Thanks you

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  I am embarrassed to say that though I am just posting this now, these two lovely books from Bonnie arrived in the mail the Monday after Thanksgiving.  I did a quick happy dance and then dove back into the giant pile of essays, research portfolios, and other writing assignments needing to be graded/responded to (yes, I am a community college writing teacher.)  I am just now climbing my way out of that pile and posting this long overdue thank you. First of all, I […]

Better than most

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

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3.5 stars. At this point, my expectations for Jane Austen retellings are so very very low. There are about 2 that I can think of that I would recommend to anyone and considering I’ve read plenty? That’s not a great batting average. It’s like authors/publishers know fans will pick them up so they don’t feel like they have to try very hard. People LOVE Lizzie & Darcy so of course they’ll read. But in truth, you’re getting compared to one of the best writers of […]

“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.”

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I like that Ibi Zoboi didn’t call this a “retelling” of Pride and Prejudice. She’s going with the term “remix.” That seems to fit a little better, because while the main plot is pretty similar, there are lots of little things that don’t quite fit into a strict retelling. What Zoboi did instead was take a story that most of us already know, flip parts of it around, and make it her own. And it really worked for me. Zuri Benitez was born and raised […]

Every book is a different hood, a different country, a different world.

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Ibi Zoboi’s Pride is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Brooklyn. The best adaptations take a familiar story and use it to explore contemporary issues. Once we identify each new character with it’s P&P counterpart, we understand where they fit in the story and then we can move on to the meat of it. We know class is going to be a part of the conflict, and since this is a modernization, we know getting the 5 Benitez sisters married off isn’t a motivation. 

Protest yourself into a good read

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This is more of a 4.5 than a 4. I like it. The art is really “nifty” and cool. The story has been done before. However, it is done slightly different than usual as well. I am not sure it is really meant for kids (or if it is, at least 5 and up). It really is a more adult take on the subject.   The book itself is basic: With very simple text it talks about how instead of doing some of the violent […]



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