BLOOD IN THE WATER, by Tiffany D. Jackson, Scholastic Press, July 1, 2025, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 9-12)
A summer visit to Martha’s Vineyard goes sideways when a popular teen is murdered in Blood in the Water, by Tiffany D. Jackson.
This summer, beware of sharks…
Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon feels like a fish out of water. She’s spending the summer with family friends in their huge house on Martha’s Vineyard, and the vibe is definitely snooty. Still, there are beautiful beaches, lots of ice cream, and a town full of fascinating Black history. Plus a few kids her age who seem friendly.
Until the shocking death of a popular teenage boy rocks the community to its core. Was it a drowning? A shark attack? Or the unthinkable–murder?
Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery. But her investigation leads her to uncover shocking secrets that could change her own life as she knows it… if she survives. —Synopsis provided by Scholastic Press
Blood in the Water is New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson’s middle-grade debut, but you’d never know that. With confident prose and a spine-tingling mystery Jackson’s writing feels right at home in the middle-grade lexicon.
The story centers around Kaylani, a bright girl who is trying to exonerate her father from a crime she’s sure he didn’t commit. As a way of helping her forget her troubles, some family friends invite Kaylani to join them at their house on Martha’s Vineyard. But when a teen is killed, everything goes sideways. And Kaylani learns that sometimes the bad guy is the person you least expect.
Told in first person, readers really get a sense of who Kaylani is. In her, Jackson has crafted a strong protagonist with an assured voice that carries throughout the novel.
Jackson expertly crafts each scene, and by adding some of the island’s Black history, she provides depth and context for the story as it unfolds.
Though Blood in the Water is a thriller and there is a murder, Jackson never strays from her intended audience. She builds tension through suspense never making things too scary for middle readers. This is a good read for the summer.
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