The Fog Diver by Joel Ross

The Fog Diver by Joel Ross. Harper, 2015. 323 pages.

Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12
Recommended for: ages 10-16

Bottom Line: The Fog Diver imagines a dystopian world of Haves and Have-nots, with plucky heroes, a wealth of detail, and a dash of humor.

Hundreds of years ago, mankind proposed to meet a crisis of smog with something called nanites: microscopic machines that ate the bad air. But as with many best-laid plans, unexpected problems ensued. The nanites eventually developed their own breeding capacity and multiplied–over and over.  Now the earth is filled with a toxic fog, and civilization, such as it is, is confined to mountaintops. In one of these settlements, the Five Families lord it over a hodge-podge of slums—income inequality with a vengeance—and Lord Kodoc controls it all. The Haves live off the work of Have-nots such as Captain Hazel and her salvage crew, who float above the fog in a makeshift barge, searching its depths for anything valuable left by previous civilizations. Hazel’s diver is 13-year-old Chess, who has an unusual talent for navigating the thick gray mist. That may be because he was “fog-born”—his mother gave birth to him while suspended in a cage in the noxious element, and his first breath brought the fog within, where it glares out through his smoky right eye.

Not your usual dystopian fantasy, but The Fog Diver has a lot going for it, including well-rounded characters and a fast plot that almost makes sense in this fully-imagined world. The details include convincing mechanical talk and hilarious misinterpretations of social history. Chess’s greatest treasure is his father’s scrapbook stuffed with clippings from a bygone age. That’s how he knows about extinct animals like hello kitties and spelling bees, and can regale his comrades with stories about Princess Solo and the X-Wing Enterprise (not to mention Superbowl’s pigskin-throwing prowess). Besides these humorous touches, the story has a lot of heart. Lord Kodoc is the weakest element, a comic-book villain with a comic-book name. But he will probably develop further: though the story comes to a satisfying conclusion, it’s clearly set up for a sequel.

Cautions: Language (one “I’ll be damned”; no profanity)

Overall rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic value: 4.5

Categories: Middle Grades, Science Fiction, Adventure