Girls’ Class and Character in Contemporary YA Fiction

Abstract

Two contemporary works of young adult fiction that appeared on the New York City 365 Book List are examined in this paper as examples of the socioeconomic diversity that the creators of the list intended to include. Nic Stone’s Jackpot (2019) and Ibi Zoboi’s Pride (2018) both depict female high schoolers—Rico and Zuri—who grapple with their own identity-building as they demonstrate awareness of their socioeconomic situations, both of working-class backgrounds, and how their personal contexts contribute to the future opportunities available to them. Ultimately, even as the novels are propelled forward with romantic relationships with male teens of higher socioeconomic statuses, with greater access to power and privilege, both protagonists ultimately develop agency in their lives and powerfully negotiate their futures, especially through their understandings and analyses of class and its connection to their identities and relationships.