Because It Is My Blood: Birthright, Book 2

Gr 8 Up—Anya Balanchine's life was ruined by a bar of chocolate—and the drama's not over yet. This follow-up (2012) to Zevin's All These Things I've Done (2011, both Farrar, Straus) finds Anya released from Liberty Correctional Facility, determined to walk the straight and narrow. But her criminal record makes a normal life impossible, and she's soon back behind bars thanks to Charles Delacroix. Following a suspicious poisoning incident, Anya is secretly sent to Mexico—and, hopefully, to safety. She learns the ropes of chocolate production and begins to see the lifeblood of her family's illegal distribution business in an entirely new light. Then someone orders a hit on Anya and her siblings. Her cousin is behind a conspiracy to destroy Balanchine Chocolate—and it looks like the plot might succeed. But a loophole in the chocolate ban that allows for medicinal chocolate dispensaries could be Anya's ticket to salvaging both her family's business and her reputation. Zevin's mob-themed dystopian series continues to be inspired and original. However, this title doesn't quite pack the same punch as its predecessor. The plot tends to drag, making for uneven pacing. Also, the times when Anya breaks narrative to directly address listeners are problematic. On the upside, character development reaches new levels, a quality made all the more evident through Ilyana Kadushin's interpretation of the text. This audiobook nicely supplements the print version, but it's not a necessary purchase.—Alissa Bach, Oxford Public Library, MI