Mysteries of Cove Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage

In Cove, a city sealed inside of a mountain to stay away from the poisonous air that technology and polution have caused, there lives a boy named Trenton Coleman. Trenton Coleman wants to be a mechanic, which is good Cove needs good mechanics. But what Cove doesn't need is curiousity, invention, and people coming up with ways to improve what they already have.

Why? Because technology, the city history books say, is why they had to go inside the mountain to begin with to escape all the pollution and destruction. So, is creativity really a bad thing? Trenton's new friend Kallista says no. And when Trenton's friend Clyde is convicted to a few days of "retraining" just because he drew a picture, Trenton really starts to think about whether or not inventiveness and creativity are really bad things. And as he and Kallista start to follow clues her dad left behind before his mysterious death, Trenton starts to realize that not only is inventing a good thing, but it may be the only thing that can save all of them. Mysteries of Cove by J. Scott Savage is a great book for middle grade readers, and anyone who enjoys dystopian and steam punk.