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Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
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Because It Is My Blood

A Novel
Birthright: Book #2

$28.34

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Narrator Ilyana Kadushin

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Length 10 hours 48 minutes
Language English
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In this thrilling novel about a reluctant mobster, Anya tries to shatter the ties that bind--with deadly consequences. Because It Is My Blood is the second stunning novel in Gabrielle Zevin's Birthright series.

"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in."- Michael Corleone, The Godfather

Since her release from Liberty Children's Facility, Anya Balanchine is determined to follow the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, her criminal record is making it hard for her to do that. No high school wants her with a gun possession charge on her rap sheet. Plus, all the people in her life have moved on: Natty has skipped two grades at Holy Trinity, Scarlet and Gable seem closer than ever, and even Win is in a new relationship.

But when old friends return demanding that certain debts be paid, Anya is thrown right back into the criminal world that she had been determined to escape. It's a journey that will take her across the ocean and straight into the heart of the birthplace of chocolate where her resolve--and her heart--will be tested as never before.

Gabrielle Zevin is the author of many popular books for teens, including Elsewhere, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, and In the Age of Love and Chocolate, the final novel in the Birthright trilogy. Her novels for adults are Margarettown, The Hole We’re In, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and the New York Times best-selling Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. She was also the screenwriter for Conversations with Other Women, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. After many years on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, she recently moved to Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

Ilyana Kadushin is best known for her narration of the Twilight audiobook series, and has worked on other audiobooks, including The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Post Grad and Dune, which won an Audie Award. Her other voice work includes national commercials, animation, and popular video games such as Lord of the Rings.

 

Kadushin has performed as both an actor and a singer for companies including Nickelodeon, BBC America, Sesame Street Television, MTV, and Cartoon network. She sang on the soundtrack of HBO Best Documentary Film Award & Finalist Separate But Equal.

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In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Don’t miss out—purchases support your local bookstore!

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Reviews

“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…Kadushin enhances the story's suspense, intrigue, and heart, raising anticipation for the next installment.” —AudioFile Magazine

“Character development reaches new levels, a quality made all the more evident through Ilyana Kadushin's interpretation of the text.” —School Library Journal

“[Ilyana Kadushin's] portrayal of Anya anchors this action packed story. Allowing Anya to maintain an aura of calmness when faced with the escalating tension created by corruption, politics and crime. Kadushin vividly portrays the teen, a self-proclaimed ‘spawn of the unscrupulous mobsters,' who strongly confronts the harsh realities of her perfidious family and their black-market dealings.” —Booklist

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