Alexei Panshin’s 1968 Nebula award winner is a story set on a space ship in a future where the Earth is no longer habitable. The people try to protect what they see as civilised behaviour while travelling between colony planets. In this society all teenagers take part in a “Rite Of Passage” - spending a few weeks on a planet before becoming adults. This is the story of one girl’s thoughts and experiences as she trains and takes part in the rite.

The way the author writes feels as though you are inside a self-absorbed teenager’s head as she deals with friends and family and the understanding that adults do not always know what is best. Reading a novel written so strongly from a teenager’s point of view is an uncomfortable thing to do. In some ways it is very linear in a “lesson learned “way but maybe it has to be, to reflect a teenager’s growing realisation that her way of life is not the only way to live. One of the things I like about science fiction is the ability to describe extreme views of society but here the social philosophy is sometimes heavy handed.

Not recommended as an introduction to science fiction but, for any reader of the genre, I consider this a well written variation on the theme. ( )

I loved this book as a teenager, and just re-read to discover it's a touch turgid - but it's SF being used to explore society and ethics, so slightly forgiven. ( )

I read this book many times as a young girl and have just finished rereading it. As the title suggests, it is a coming of age story. The narrator is 13 and the language and simplicity of the narration reflects her age. Despite its simplicity of style, this book deals with some of the great issues of science fiction: what constitutes a person, what is ethical conduct, how should people in power treat people who have none, etc.
Personally, I have always felt a very strong connection with Mia, the narrator of the book. I feel like this book is an excellent choice for young readers of the genre, and older readers who don't mind a more simplistic narrative style. I loved rereading it now that I'm older, and I highly recommend it. ( )

Not bad actually...has a little storie and entertaining too.

First and foremost, this is a story of growing up. As such, it works very well. Mia, a quick witted and tempered teenage girl, learns how to deal with friends, adults, adventure, danger, prejudice and moral dilemmas. Although, sometimes it feels like a by-the-numbers effort, where each of name themes is treated one by one, with Mia basically explicitly acknowledging the lesson learned at the end of each episode. Fortunately, this stylistic choice does not distract from the sincerity of the first person narrator.

On the other hand, the book also describes a futuristic society inhabiting a large generational starship. Its mores and moral values are compared and contrasted with, much more negatively portrayed, colonists, who live on planets instead. The colonists are quite obviously a caricature of our own world of today (or of the original publication year, 1968). On this level, I think Panshin does a much poorer job. He offers criticisms and provides solutions (through parallels between the different societies), without presenting a convincing case to support either. At such times, I would have a jarring feeling that the author's voice intruded on the voice of the narrator. ( )