The Fog Diver

This is a fantasy, dystopian, adventure story written by Joel Ross.  The world is covered in a toxic fog created by man but the technology turned on its creator and realized in order to survive, it needed to kill its creator.  So the fog covers Earth, whose human population can only live above the fog on two mountaintops.  Chess is a boy who was born in the fog and therefore has special talents and skills, along with his tell-tale eye: his pupil swirls with with Fog.  Bad people want to use him to control the Fog, but he and his crew only need to get to the Port - a place that promises hope for them and their foster mother, who has fog sickness and is dying.  Every page was exciting.  There is a sequel.  (FOC ROSS)

The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley

This young-adult book by April Stevens was beautiful.  Frances calls herself Figgrotten.  It seems to jive with her outdoorsy, nature-loving, and observant character.  She is odd, and owns it.  Her best friend, Alvin, is her bus driver.  He gets her.  He appreciates her.  He teacher her.  But when something happens to him, she is lost.  However, she soon finds that she is not all that odd.  Or if she is, there are other people like Alvin who are o.k. with it.  We all can identify with Frances in some way.  I am glad this is on the Great Stone Face list for 2018.  (FIC STE)

The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones

What a refreshingly original book!  I loved the setting of a nursing home.  It brought out the wonderful character traits of Lincoln and his mom, as well as offered some humorous scenes with the patients.  The story centered around a boy and a mother who have escaped from an abusive man and started a new life.  Her job is at a nursing home for patients with dementia and Lincoln has to go there in the afternoons.  He is a kind, respectful, well-mannered kid from the south, and unfortunately, it makes him the target of some unkind kids.  He finds solace in his writing, and eventually in finding some friends.  I gobbled this one up and didn't want to leave his world.  (FIC VAN)