The Fog Diver

Joel Ross debuts a thrilling adventure series in which living in the sky is the new reality and a few determined slum kids just might become heroes. This Texas Bluebonnet selection—a fantasy filled with daring and hope and a wonderfully imaginative world—is perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull. Once the Fog started rising, the earth was covered with a deadly white mist until nothing remained but the mountaintops. Now humanity clings to its highest peaks, called the Rooftop, where the wealthy Five Families rule over the lower slopes and floating junkyards. Thirteen-year-old Chess and his friends Hazel, Bea, and Swedish sail their rickety air raft over the deadly Fog, scavenging the ruins for anything they can sell to survive. But now survival isn't enough. They must risk everything to get to the miraculous city of Port Oro, the only place where their beloved Mrs. E can be cured of fogsickness. Yet the ruthless Lord Kodoc is hot on their trail, for Chess has a precious secret, one that Kodoc is desperate to use against him. Now Chess will face any danger to protect his friends, even if it means confronting what he fears the most.

In the high-stakes sequel to the acclaimed The Fog Diver—which was named a Texas Bluebonnet selection and winner of the 2015 Cybils Award for Speculative Fiction and the Michigan Library Association’s 2016 YouPer Award—thirteen-year-old Chess and his crew must stop the deadly and mysterious Fog from enveloping the city of Port Oro and destroying their world. Chess and his crew—Hazel, Swedish, Loretta, and Bea—may have escaped the slums, but they cannot escape the Fog that threatens to swallow the entire mountaintop city of Port Oro. Only one thing can stop the Fog: an ancient machine known as the Compass. And only one person can find it: Chess. With the help of his crew, Chess faces dangerous encounters and deadly driftsharks to unearth the hidden instrument. It’s a race against time to save this sanctuary in the sky. With adventure at every turn, peril behind every corner, and a few determined slum kids who must save the day, Joel Ross presents a fantastic world in this fast-paced follow-up to The Fog Diver.

“A wildly imaginative world and a plot full of unexpected twists and turns, not to mention plenty of witty banter.” —Sarah Prineas, author of the Magic Thief series “Out-of-this world magic, laugh-out-loud humor, and a cast of lovable characters.” —Sage Blackwood, author of the Jinx series “A solid fantasy adventure with several laugh-out-loud moments.” —School Library Journal A thrilling new middle grade fantasy from Texas Bluebonnet Award winner Joel Ross. Packed with adventure and humor and filled with goblins, royals, and magic, this is a tale of unlikely heroes who embark on a daring quest. Boot boy Ji is tired of scrubbing soles and untangling shoelaces. He doesn’t want to bow and scrape. All he wants is freedom—for himself and his friends. He decides to risk everything for a chance to accompany a young nobleman to the Diadem Rite, a magical ritual that chooses the heir to the Summer Crown. Ji doesn’t care about crowns or ceremonies, but he vows that this trip will grant him and his friends new lives, far away from boots and bowing. What Ji doesn’t know is that he and his friends have a dangerous part to play in the Diadem Rite. One that will change them forever.

December 1, 1941It is seven days before the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Days that are numbered for Sondegger, a Nazi spy captured in London while on a mission to take down the Twenty Committee, a German network of spies the British have turned.For American Tom Wall, the days have run together as he awakens to find himself locked in a British military asylum. Wounded and shell-shocked, all he knows is that his brother, Earl, betrayed Tom’s unit in Crete, causing one of the bloodiest masacres of the war.Now Tom has to pretend to be his brother, and try to force Sondegger to reveal what he knows about the Twenty Committee. But Sondegger also knows about the Japanese plan of attack, and Tom may be able to prevent it. But should he?An electrifying debut that combines political insight with the classic elements of espionage fiction–here is a Nazi spy novel you won’t be able to put down.

It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster. Together with Ian Schoenherr's breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.

Phaet Theta has lived her whole life in a colony on the Moon. She’s barely spoken since her father died in an accident nine years ago. She cultivates the plants in Greenhouse 22, lets her best friend talk for her, and stays off the government’s radar. Then her mother is arrested. The only way to save her younger siblings from the degrading Shelter is by enlisting in the Militia, the faceless army that polices the Lunar bases and protects them from attacks by desperate Earth-dwellers. Training is brutal, but it’s where Phaet forms an uneasy but meaningful alliance with the preternaturally accomplished Wes, a fellow outsider. Rank high, save her siblings, free her mom: that’s the plan. Until Phaet’s logically ordered world begins to crumble... Suspenseful, intelligent, and hauntingly prescient, Dove Arising stands on the shoulders of our greatest tales of the future to tell a story that is all too relevant today.

An empty mind is a safe mind. Yulia's father always taught her to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive the harsh realities of Soviet Russia. But when she's captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she's thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power. Yulia quickly realizes she can trust no one--not her KGB superiors or the other operatives vying for her attention--and must rely on her own wits and skills to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.

Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Wayside School will love this first book in a new, off-the-wall middle grade series about two boys—one with the heart of a lion and the test scores of a baked potato, the other a shy boy genius in a bunny suit—finding their strengths and true friendship. Sixth-grader Alley Katz is innocently trying to help a bunch of kindergarteners when the burrito hits the fan. Literally. A burrito. A ceiling fan. A hail of beans. Now he has to get an A on his science test or he’ll be transferred to the dreaded Steggles Academy. An A seems impossible! Alley is kind, intrepid, and well-liked, but for some reason he doesn’t get graded on any of that. So the principal assigns a peer mentor to help: Rex, a fourth-grade genius who wears a bunny suit. Alley is totally in favor of both bunnies and fourth graders, but he doesn’t need Rex. He has his own foolproof plan to ace the test. Still, Rex is determined to fulfill his duty as Alley’s mentor—and he may need some help of his own. One boy needs to stay in school, the other needs to get through it. Can this odd couple save the day—and each other?