Rite of Passage

At the end of the 22nd century, Earth has been destroyed and humanity has been divided into two distinct factions: those that live on Ships and those that live on a Colony. Residents of the Ships live in an advanced technological society that meets all a person's basic needs. Residents of a Colony live under conditions that are more akin to the 19th century instead of the 22nd. Within this milieu, Mia Havero is growing up. As she comes of age aboard a Ship, Mia's notions of the world around her are reshaped and reformed from those of a child into those of an adult. When a member of a Ship reaches the age of 14, each member of the Ship undergoes Trial. A period of 30 days where they are dropped on a Colony world to fend for themselves. If they survive, they return to the Ship as a full adult and member of the Ship's community. Rite of Passage is a wonderful coming of age tale. Mia's growth from a child who is upset at being uprooted from her traditional home -- being moved from one section of the Ship to another when she is 12 -- all the way to a young woman whose decision making processes mature into a very capable and thoughtful young adult are written exceptionally well. At every stage of Mia's growth, the decisions she was making and the explorations she was undertaking made sense given her age. For Mia, her Trial coalesces all that she has learned aboard Ship. She no longer has to rely on what other people think and believe -- whether that be her father, her tutor, or even her friends -- but can now make up her own mind in a logical, reasoned process. In essence as well as in fact, she has become an adult. Panshin's Rite of Passage is highly recommended to anyone who can relate to -- or remember -- the world at first slowly unfolding and then, as time passed, dramatically unraveling into the multi-faceted, multi-hued tapestry that any adult can recognize in the blink of an eye.

Now available again via the SFBC's 50th anniversary collection's 8 samples from the 60's. (you can check out the image I scanned above) I'm surprised how many little gems of literary passages can be found in this fairly short work (compared to the few found in today's bloated offerings). My favorite was when the main character Mia found herself waiting in an impersonal public area: "... To be a stranger in an impersonal room in which there are other people who are not strangers to one another or to the place is to have a feeling of strangeness compounded". Extremely well done was the way that cultural bigotry is presented as embedded into the Ship's culture (whose residents call the Colonists "Mudeaters") and the Colonies (whose residents call the Shipdwellers "Grabbies")... I found myself asking, "where have I seen this good a presentation of this subject before?"... and it finally came to me - Asimov's Robot Murder Mystery Novels, and the bigotry of between Spacers and Earthmen. At first I wasn't enjoying the level of detail that was being presented when the "trainees" went down to a planet and constructed a shelter... but, by the time the chapter was over, I thought to myself; "dang - I learned how to build a log cabin!".

I read a lot of science fiction as a teenager and young adult...the best way to describe this book is 'charming'. It is definitely science fiction, but the focus on the lead female adolescent character and how she changes as she explores her environment, makes the book very accessible for younger readers.While the book provides typical thought-provoking content in the plot and situations, the real beauty is watching the lead character change mentally and emotionally from a teenager to a young adult. This is my favorite coming-of-age story...I can't believe it is out of print. Get a paper copy if you can (I've seen it in some used book stores)

As someone who has always been, and always will be, a child at heart, I find that reading this book is like going home and then coming back again. I re-read it at least once every two years, and no, you can't have my falling-apart copy. You can't even borrow it. I'd sooner loan you one of my arms or legs.In the beginning, the story may remind you of Heinlein's novella, Universe. But where in that work the punchline is the science, in this one it's the humanity. A young girl works up to, and then works through, her rite of passage to adulthood, and in the process gains much and loses even more, as always happens when we grow up. Be warned: it's not a "kids' book" though. This is for adults who remember, or who want to remember, what it was like to make the transition-- all the joys and all the sorrows. It's also great for young teens who are going through the process right now.Reviewers who think the politics and the moral issues are oversimplified have missed the point. When you're that age, politics and morals ARE that simple. Would they could always be.One of my 'top six best science fiction works of all time' picks.

This gold-plated classic of mature juvenile sci-fi comes from an author who roundly criticizes R.A.Heinlein -- then masterly performs every R.A.H. trick and stylistic turn! The treatment of philosophies of coming-of-age are handled with pure excellence. The social dimensions of the culture(s) include strengths and flaws and never slip out of consistancy. Note to sex-nervous parents: As the young couple enter into adulthood, they do so as adults. Panshin does not titillate, but he does not pretend that sex does not happen (the bane of R.A.H's juveniles).