Angourie Rice Wrote 'Stuck Up & Stupid' With Her Mom and It’s a Modern-Day 'Pride and Prejudice'

You’ve seen Angourie Rice on screen in Mean Girls and Spider-Man, but now she’s trying something new—she’s officially an author.

Her debut novel Stuck Up & Stupid, out now from Candlewick Press, is a fresh YA take on Pride and Prejudice that she co-wrote with her mom, playwright Kate Rice. The story is set between Australia and Los Angeles and brings classic Austen characters into the world of modern fame and friendship.

The idea started when Angourie asked her mom to write a retelling—and Kate suggested they do it together. “It’s coming together to create this thing as two creative people,” Angourie says to USA Today. “And that’s really cool… to meet each other as artists.”

They wrote it by hand at first while on a beach vacation, building the story scene by scene. Instead of focusing on marriage and status, this version leans into messy feelings, mother-daughter bonds, and what it means to figure out who you are.

“This is sort of a piece of my home that we’ve put in the book,” Angourie says. “That’s scary and vulnerable, but it’s also exciting.”

Stuck Up & Stupid is out now!