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Blue Beach

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What to expect

Perfect for fans of Promise Boys, this gripping historical mystery follows a teenager who finds a murdered girl on her family's California beach—a discovery that will reveal the racism rampant in her world.

Fifteen-year-old Blue Collins’s parents own the only Black beach in Santa Monica in 1929. She loves spending time there with her handsome friend Ben Clark. It’s a quiet spot where they can be alone and where Ben’s darker skin won’t be judged by onlookers—or Blue’s own family.

During a sunset rendezvous after a summer parade, the pair discovers the body of Dottie Whitehouse, a white debutante. Blue Beach is already threatened by local white property owners. Now their whole community could be at risk. In their panic, Blue and Ben move Dottie’s body into the waters of a nearby white beach.

Dottie’s body washes ashore, and it isn’t long before all eyes are on Ben. Everyone saw how Dottie teased him and how they shared smiles. And their history goes deeper than Blue ever realized. But to save Ben from the outraged white townspeople, she’ll need to do whatever she can to dig up the truth and prove his innocence. Ben isn’t the only one whose life depends on it.

Critics Review

* "Parsons’ latest is a page-turning narrative bolstered by a strong sense of time and place. A riveting story of secrets, betrayal, racial struggle, and loyal bonds."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"An engaging period piece with an easy-to-follow mystery and highly compelling characters, this is especially relevant for its realistic depictions of race and class in American society."—School Library Journal
"Actor Parsons (Clouds over California) makes her YA debut with an evocative, socially conscious murder mystery set against the racially charged backdrop of 1929 Santa Monica."—Publishers Weekly
"An engrossing novel about the lies people believe and the terrible things done to keep the truth buried."—Booklist
“Blue Beach is an unflinching and beautifully crafted page-turner. Parsons’s vivid prose builds palpable tension throughout this love story that explores the dangers of keeping secrets and the cost of telling the truth. An indelible tale.”—Renée Watson, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Karyn Parsons does something special here—really in everything she writes. History is at the forefront: the beautiful and the ugly, the urgency to confront and correct it. Blue Beach is a mystery that pulses with immediacy. I found myself rooting for Blue, for Ben, and for justice for us all.”—Tami Charles, New York Times bestselling author of Muted and Like Vanessa

“Blue Beach is a brilliant and gripping whodunit set during a time that reminds us society’s dangers exist without an expiration date. The historical setting is lovingly rendered, the crime heartbreakingly depicted. Karyn Parsons has done some fine work. Anyone who steps on the sand here is going to want to stay a while!”

—Lamar Giles, three-time Edgar Awards finalist and author of The Getaway
“I loved Blue Beach—a thrilling, immersive historical mystery that illuminates California’s segregated past from the vantage of the only Black beach in Santa Monica. You’ll cheer for Blue as she navigates her world with honor and courage, and ache for characters facing down a nation’s prejudice while trying to keep the joys of childhood alive. With prose bright and clear, this story rings with difficult truths about racism, colorism, and a past that still haunts us today. The mystery will keep you turning pages, but ultimately, it’s love—for people, place, and home—that gives this novel such tremendous force. Everyone should pay a visit to Parsons’s lovingly rendered Blue Beach.”—Kelly McWilliams, author of Mirror Girls
Author Karyn Parsons
Narrator Imani Parks
Duration 7 hours and 48 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781668657492
Format Audiobook
Publisher Hachette Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Crime and mystery fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Places and peoples, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Prejudice and intolerance, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Racism
Availability US

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