Blood in the Water

Gr 4-7–Gr 4-7–Ominous music opens bestselling Jackson’s propulsive MG debut, as versatile Leigh immediately grabs readers with 12-year-old Kaylani falling “deeper into the dark bottomless ice-cold ocean.” That summer, Kaylani just wanted to stay home in Brooklyn, where Dad could easily call her from prison. Besides, she really needs to study for the upcoming pre-law camp entrance exam to help prove Dad’s innocence. Instead, she’s sent to Martha’s Vineyard—Jackson seamlessly intertwines the island’s Black history—to stay with family friends: “Your only job is to be a kid,” Dad insists, which isn’t easy with the hosts’ two entitled granddaughters, teen Cassie and same-age London. And then Cassie’s ex turns up dead in the water. Beyond ensuring Kaylani’s impressive full range—awkward, determined, obedient, defiant—narrator Leigh expertly enlivens an extensive cast, including nurturing Dad, bratty London, rules-insistent Mrs. Watson, cluelessly friendly Mr. Watson, affable Miles, and his furious mother.