Blood In The Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

An instant New York Times bestseller and winner of the Edgar Award, this middle-grade mystery has been flying off our shelf faster than gulls off the footbridge. R.L. Stine, the mind behind Goosebumps, put it plainly: “Don’t miss this one!”

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 secrets that could change her own life as she knows it. If she survives.

Here’s what we love about it. The author, already a mega bestseller in the young adult world (The Weight of Blood, White Smoke), makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with a can’t-put-it-down whodunit that respects young readers. It’s smart, twisty, and salted with real history. Short chapters. Sharp cliffhangers. The kind of book a kid reads under the covers with a flashlight, then hands to a friend the next morning.

Perfect for readers ages 8 to 12 who love a good scare, a summer setting, and a heroine who refuses to back down. Honestly? Plenty of grown-ups in the shop have snuck a copy home, too.

Tuck it in a beach bag, curl up on a foggy afternoon, and let the mystery pull you in with the tide.

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