In this second installment of the Birthright series, Anya Balanchine is released from Liberty Children’s Facility, only to find she’s unable to pick up where she left off. Life and the people in her life look very different from the way they did a mere month earlier. Ilyana Kadushin dives right back in as the perfect Anya—seemingly emotionless and cool on the surface but a true teen in consciousness and delivery. Kadushin delivers the story’s happiness, sorrow, and mob family suspense to make this follow-up just as fast paced as the original. One small issue is that Kadushin’s occasional questioning inflection in the middle of sentences jars the listener out of the narration. Overall, however, Kadushin enhances the story’s suspense, intrigue, and heart, raising anticipation for the next installment. C.C. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

In this second installment of Zevin’s Birthright series, following All These Things I’ve Done and set in the late 21st century, Anya Balanchine faces additional tragedy and danger as she increases her involvement with her late father’s illegal chocolate business. After escaping from Liberty Children’s Facility, Anya travels incognito to Mexico, where she is schooled in the production of chocolate and taken under the wing of a family of cacao growers. When a failed attempt on Anya’s life sends her fleeing back to New York City, she has some hard choices to make. Her decision to stay in the family business and turn her father’s underground chocolate sales into an aboveboard operation is met with resistance on both sides of her law. The line between Anya’s friends and foes grows blurry as she attempts to weed out traitors and discover who has tried to harm her and her family. Discerning characters’ true motives will keep readers guessing, and the conflicting forces within Anya add an extra dimension of drama to this action-packed sequel. Ages 12–up. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Sept.)

An engaging heroine, lots of humor . . . in this Godfather for teens. B+” —EW.com

“Readers who enjoy mob stories and visions of future societies will be pleased. As in the first book, Zevin provokes thought about what we make illegal and why.” —School Library Journal

“The idea of a world in which chocolate, coffee, and other stimulants have been outlawed is alluring, and Anya is a strong, smart protagonist. Fans will want to find out what happens to her.” —VOYA

“Discerning characters' true motives will keep readers guessing, and the conflicting forces within Anya add an extra dimension of drama to this action-packed sequel.” —Publishers Weekly

“This sequel to All These Things I've Done paints on such a broad canvas that readers will be amazed at Zevin's management abilities. . . . Zevin's strong suit is characterization, and it shines here. Whatever the nefarious plot, no one becomes a cartoon character—like chocolates, each is delicious in his or her own right.” —Booklist

“Fans of the first will enjoy the author's inventive combination of chocolate, crime and politics, as well as finding out Anya's post-prison fate.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Anya's flaws are what make her a complicated, thoroughly human character, one whom readers will enjoy continuing to try to understand. . . . Readers will love her, flawed as she is.” —Teenreads.com

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

In this second installment of the Birthright series, Anya Balanchine is released from Liberty Children’s Facility, only to find she’s unable to pick up where she left off. Life and the people in her life look very different from the way they did a mere month earlier. Ilyana Kadushin dives right back in as the perfect Anya—seemingly emotionless and cool on the surface but a true teen in consciousness and delivery. Kadushin delivers the story’s happiness, sorrow, and mob family suspense to make this follow-up just as fast paced as the original. One small issue is that Kadushin’s occasional questioning inflection in the middle of sentences jars the listener out of the narration. Overall, however, Kadushin enhances the story’s suspense, intrigue, and heart, raising anticipation for the next installment. C.C. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

In this sequel to All These Things I've Done (2011), 17-year-old Anya Balanchine, heir apparent to the illegal chocolate trade in 2083 New York City, attempts to leave her criminal past behind with mixed results. After doing time for shooting her cousin after his attempt on her ex-boyfriend Win's life, Anya tries to distance herself from her deceased father's black-market business. But when her fragile relationship with Win threatens the campaign of the incumbent district attorney, who also happens to be Win's father, Anya finds herself fleeing the country to escape further imprisonment. She hides out on a Mexican cacao farm, where she discovers the roots of Balanchine Chocolate and gathers the strength to go back and face the remaining members of her treacherous family. After a sluggish start, the last third of the novel takes off when Anya is confronted with several surprising betrayals and confessions. Zevin's stilted, formal dialogue and arid prose doesn't do her hot-blooded mafia story any favors. Still, fans of the first will enjoy the author's inventive combination of chocolate, crime and politics, as well as finding out Anya's post-prison fate. Casual browsers should be warned that this is a true sequel that entails a read of the initial installment to make all the necessary connections. Required reading if you own the first title. (Thriller. 12 & up)