All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

I picked this book up a few weeks ago in Chapters and now that it is summer holidays I finally got around to reading it. This book is written by the author of Elsewhere (a book I know I've read, but apparently I didn't blog about it- which is strange!) This book is set about 90 years in the future, although life is pretty similar to today. There are a few strange things, like having to pay for each litre of water used and chocolate and coffee are illegal, but other than that the story could be set today. Anya Balanchine is the middle daughter of a mob family. Her parents are both dead and she is responsible for her older brother who has a brain injury and her younger sister. Her grandmother is on her death bed and all Anya wants to do is graduate high school and keep her family together. Yet life keeps throwing curves at her. I don't want to give away any of the plot here, but there are lots of things that Anya needs to overcome. Through all of it, there is Win, a boy who Anya really likes and who seems to be there for her. Anya is a really interesting character. She is strong, determined, and very very smart. She misses her parents very badly, and works very hard to make sure they would be proud of her. Anya knows what she wants, and even though she is only 17, she makes some very difficult decisions. I enjoyed reading this book, there are some mature themes in it, but it is a great read.