This was a great story. Not only does it have an important message, but it was creative and fun to see the version of Atlantis.
The premise is that this earth (ours but not) has so polluted the ocean that suddenly tidal waves started hitting the continents. They wiped out the cities along the coasts and now everyone has moved into the center of the landmasses. There are cliffs the waves pound into to protect what's left of the land, and alerts that go out to everyone to warn people of the danger. Everyone stays away from the water.
12-year-old Lewis's father had come to visit him. They were supposed to go camping but he cancelled, again. While his dad was fighting with his mom and his stepdad wisely stayed out of the way, he snuck into his dad's vehicle. So Lewis found himself at his father's lab as the tidal wave alarms went off. He was let inside and discovered a girl was there. Her name is Hanna and it turns out she's a genius who just graduated college at 16. She had designed a submersible which they all quickly got in as the waves hit them, destroying the lab and taking them out to sea.
Lewis's father is obsessed with his theory of Atlantis. This has cost him his job, his reputation, and his marriage. He believes that Atlantis is real, people live under the ocean, and they are causing the tidal waves. He thinks that Atlanteans came to NY but their vessel was destroyed, either accidentally or on purpose. He is determined to find them.
Kaya lives in Atlantis with her father and grandmother. Her mother disappeared when she was young but loved to tell her stories of the Sun People. Those stories are illegal and a clandestine group called The Erasers disappear people who tell these stories and rumors. Because the 'truth' is that the surface is poisoned and toxic and no ones lives on the surface. Kaya and her friend Rian snuck out to listen to Elida, an underground storyteller, but were devastated when Erasers showed up and took her. Kaya wanted to see for herself so she made a plan to sneak to the outer area of Atlantis, but on her deep water suit, swim to the surface to see the land of the Sun People, and return. Instead she's caught by Atlantis screening and so happens to be there when a strange submersible is also brought in.
Lewis, Hanna and Lewis's father are so excited to have found Atlantis. They are amazed to see two Atlanteans, who are shorter and stockier that they are with huge eyes and white blond hair. They struggle to communicate for a second but the Atlanteans have technology that quickly had them speaking the same language. Kaya and Naxos (the engineer/Eraser who worked this outer area) were shocked to discover they weren't an invasion and they were friendly. But it was too late, alarms had already been sounded and Erasers were coming. Naxos helped Kaya hide the Sun People and she quickly got them out of there, but not before Naxos put a tracking device on Lewis's dad.
Lewis's father was ecstatically recording everything. He was so happy and ecstatic to be there. But the Sun People didn't seem to grasp the danger they were in. But they marvelled at the underground city. How it was built into giant caverns and people lived in the walls. And it was packed with people. There were aqua-farms to raise fish and kelp and seaweed for food.
They made it to Gogol's shop where they bargained for a vehicle to get them out of there, but the Erasers showed up. His dad was stunned and collapsed and Kaya quickly got the rest of them out of there. Hanna fixed the gravity drive as they were fleeing and one of the sonic guns. Kaya got them to her house where they were only able to relax for a moment. They met Rian and Kaya's grandmother before the Eraser's showed up again and took Lewis and Hanna. Kaya learned that the Erasers listen to communications so they heard her tell Rian she was taking the Sun People to her house. She learned her mother had been on a ship that was sent to treaty with the Sun People but they destroyed it, and she learned her father was an Eraser.
Hanna and Lewis are taken to Eraser HQ where they have an underwater prison. Each cell is like a mini home that is in a controlled float in a pool filled with toxic, below freezing water. There was no telling how many people were in cells in this giant pool. They were reunited with the Professor. Kaya, Rian and her Grandmother come up with a plan when Naxos shows up to help. Kaya and Naxos head to HQ, Naxos acts as a distraction and Kaya gets inside just as the Sun People had figured out a way to escape. The Professor sacrificed himself in the water to play the sound sequence that would return the cell to the main building. But now he was freezing and showing signs of illness.
They get him to a vehicle, Kaya find Elida (the storyteller) and calls her cell back to free her. Naxos takes the Professor to a healer in one of the Atlantis cities, otherwise he wouldn't survive. Kaya, Hanna and Lewis escape through a water tunnel to head to the warships Naxos helped build that could take them to the surface.
But once again the Erasers catch them. But this time Kaya's father is there. They make a deal and let Lewis and Hanna go if they give the Erasers the wristband that had all of Lewis's father's data on it. So Hanna and Lewis set off in the ship when Kaya realizes that they will never let them take a warship to the surface. So she gets away from her father and grabs a deep dive suit and quickly follows them. She gets on board and helps them escape the torpedos but it wasn't enough until her father joined the fight, taking out the other warships and destroying the warship factory.
Kaya, Lewis, and Hanna headed for the surface where Kaya was blown away by the size, the space, and the colors. They were all disgusted to see all the trash on the surface of the ocean, but Kaya was blown away when she saw the land and the cities. A jet started following them, then a helicopter. Lewis waved and gave them a thumb's up which the pilot returned (so it looks as if the Sun People don't plan on attacking). And the story ends with Lewis arriving back home.
There's obviously a lot of loose ends. Does the Professor make it back home? Does Kaya? How are Kaya's experiences on the surface? Can the two nations make peace with each other? And can they find a way to stop the trash that is poisoning their world. This was a good story and I'm looking forward to see what happens next.