The Fog Diver by Joel Ross

Summary:  In an attempt to eliminate pollution, humans created nanites, tiny robots built to destroy it.   The robots discover that the humans are responsible for creating pollution and turn against them.  They ban together, creating a poisonous fog that humans cannot survive in.  The humans are forced up the mountain where they can stay out of the fog.  The upper class, led by evil Lord Kodoc, live at the top of the mountain and the poor live in the slum located lower on the mountain.  Four slum kids Hazel, Chess, Swedish, and Bea fly the skies searching for items they can salvage for money to buy food to stay alive.  Chess, the tetherboy, dives into the fog looking for these items.  Chess has a secret that allows him to stay in the fog longer and travel it more effortlessly than others. He was born in the fog and part of it is trapped in his eye which has given him these abilities.  If Lord Kodoc finds out, he will work him to death.  Will the crew be able to find something big enough to save their lives?  Will Chess be able to stay hidden from the evil Lord Kodoc? 

Impression:  I loved this book.  It is very entertaining.  I couldn't put it down until I was down.  This Texas Bluebonnet Nominee comes highly recommended.  It does use one bad word, but content of the book is appropriate for readers 3rd grade and up.

Reading Recommendations:  Readers will also love last years blubonnet nominee Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman; Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White; The City of Ember by Jean DuPrau;The Chronicles of Egg by Geoff Rodkey and The Giver by Lois Lowry

Reviews:

Adult novelist Ross (White Flag Down, 2007, etc.) makes his middle-grade debut with a boy's desperate search to save himself and his crew from a horrible fate in a post-apocalyptic future. Scientists didn't realize the nanites they invented to eat smog would decide humans were a sort of pollution too, pushing them to the mountaintops and covering the rest of the land with a white fog. After hundreds of years, the highest heights are now controlled by the Five Families, with everyone else consigned to the slums below. Chess and his scavenger crew patrol the margins of the Fog by airship, "diving" to retrieve anything of value within reach of his tether. They've managed to scrape by, but Lord Kadoc has heard about his abilities to dive into the Fog and wants to enslave Chess to scavenge only for him...for as long as Chess can last. Ross wastes no time with his worldbuilding, establishing Chess and his crew as a misfit found family working the Fog by day and sharing stories by night. Readers will chuckle at the garbled remnants of their times in such tales as "Skywalker Trek," in which the Klingons battle the Jedi when they are not fighting Tribbles and Ewoks. It's a fresh approach, convincingly delivered, with overtones reminiscent of Dickens...the only thing missing is a sequel, which readers will hope won't be far behind. (Science fiction. 8-12)

"Fog Diver." Rev. of Fog Diver by Joel Ross. Kirkus Reviews. 15 March 2015. Web. 30 May 2016.

Lethal fog covers the earth, forcing humans to live in the skies. Among them are four young scavengers on an airship desperate to save their guardian from a deadly illness but without money to do it--until they find a diamond. Despite its neat futuristic setting, the plot feels charmingly nostalgic (think The Goonies). The crew's banter is amusing if sometimes hokey.

"Fog Diver." Rev. of Fog Diver by Joel Ross. Horn Book Guide. Fall 2015. Web. 30 May 2016.