The Fog Diver

Joel Ross's debut steampunk adventure follows a group of slum kids navigating a post-apocalyptic world. After deadly white mist called the Fog covered the earth, humanity survives only on mountaintops known as the Rooftop, where the wealthy Five Families rule over lower slopes and floating junkyards. Thirteen-year-old Chess and his friends Hazel, Bea, and Swedish sail a rickety airship over the Fog, scavenging ruins to survive. When their friend Mrs. E contracts fogsickness, they must reach Port Oro, the only place where she can be cured. Their journey becomes dangerous when the ruthless Lord Kodoc pursues them. Chess possesses a secret gift for navigating the Fog, but using it attracts Kodoc's attention and puts his friends at risk. The story explores Chess's struggle to protect those he cares about while grappling with a power that makes him both valuable and vulnerable. This Texas Bluebonnet selection is set in a world where survival depends on scavenging the remnants of civilization in a fog-covered landscape.