Mia lives on a spaceship. Because of humankind's stupidity, Earth is no longer livable. There are a few colony worlds, but life on them is hard and dangerous. Colony people don't like ship people and ship people don't like colony people.
Because room is limited on the spaceships, the space people have developed a method of thinning the ranks. When kids reach their early teens, they undergo a training period that will prepare them for the Rite of Passage. This involves planting the teens on colony worlds and making them live by their wits for a month. Lots of teens die in the attempt.
Mia and Jimmy are two such teens. Together they attend the training classes and become friends. Unfortunately, they have a falling out and Mia ends up facing her Rite of Passage alone. She has some bad encounters with some colonists and is rescued by a local oddball and eventually finds and reconciles with Jimmy.
This was a pretty good read. I was a teenager the first time I read it in the the 1970s and I remember I loved it. But rereading it now I found it a bit slow at times. Still an enjoyable read though.
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