Praised by historians and Civil Rights Movement leaders
“Written with sensitivity and insight about the nature of prejudice. Will resonate with teens and older readers alike.”
—John Dittmer, Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
Adult fiction with crossover to YA
“Something different and quite special, with so much to offer YA readers.”
—Shea Peeples, Teen Librarian, Wescott Library, Eagan, MN
Ideal for book groups
“The Fog Machine should be read, heard, and shared.”
—Jackie Roberts, Seattle’s The BookClub
Powerful resource for teachers
“History told through relationships—the way young adults learn best.”
—Vickie Malone, McComb High teacher whose Local Culture class inspired Mississippi’s K-12 public school mandated civil rights education curriculum
The Fog Machine
A Novel
The Fog Machine is a timely and timeless exploration of prejudice and what enables change.
An historical novel set in the epicenter of the Civil Rights Movement—Mississippi Freedom Summer.
Told from the perspectives of a 12-year-old white girl, a young Black woman who leaves Mississippi for Chicago, and a Freedom Summer volunteer from New York.
Adopted by schools in Minnesota, Mississippi, Washington, and Norway at the high school, “college in the schools,” and university levels.
Included by Teaching for Change in its curated lists of social justice books for young adults and educators. Excerpted in Perspectives for a Diverse America, an online anti-bias curriculum by Learning for Justice.
“Filled with the pleasure of discovering new and interesting people, The Fog Machine accomplishes the difficult feat of making history come alive through fiction.”
—Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute
My Story
Fog machines are a relic from my childhood in the sixties—a memory as unrelenting as the heat and humidity of summer in Mississippi.
Around supper time, as the sun began to slide down the horizon like a riff, aging pickup trucks would emerge like mosquitoes. Soon, the aerosol generators bolted to their beds began to burn oil, forty to eighty gallons an hour, and belch insecticide fog.
The cloud was thick and white, like the cumulus formations that skidded across the sky during the day under our watchful eyes from our positions flat on our backs on the grass. But the cloud from the fog machine was within our grasp. We had only to chase it to find ourselves inside.
And so, children were excused from the table, released into the approaching night. We ran then, down the street behind the machine, as if it carried our very dreams and hopes.
Unaware of the danger.
Photo by Dani Follett-Dion
About Susan Follett
Susan Follett is an advocate for using stories to increase awareness of history and dismantle the stereotypes that divide us.
Having grown up in the shadow and silence of Jim Crow—unaware of the March from Selma scarcely 100 miles from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi, where three civil rights workers disappeared during Freedom Summer—she set out to examine and reimagine the times. The Fog Machine was published in 2014 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer.
As author and public speaker, Susan shares Civil Rights Movement history and her journey of discovery. Her “Stories from Civil Rights History, Then and Now” events help classrooms and communities connect history to today. Her work explores prejudice and what enables change. She lives in St. Paul, MN.