Rite of Passage

Rating:
Summary: A Nebula-award-winner with real moral depth
Review: This is a deep story with much more to it than appears at first. It is not just a startling twist on the idea of a spaceship-based society, but also on the coming-of-age story, but with a real twist: as the rebellious young heroine learns more about what her own culture really does, the reader realizes that there are real moral issues here, not just conflicts of style. Real evil often is done by "nice" people, and it's good to see an example of this worked out in fiction (where it's safer to let ourselves consider the presence of real moral choices). It's a rather timely topic for the present decade, which may be why this Nebula-winning book is now out of print! Do find this one if you're at all tempted.

Rating:
Summary: A Nebula-award-winner with real moral depth
Review: This is a deep story with much more to it than appears at first. It is not just a startling twist on the idea of a spaceship-based society, but also on the coming-of-age story, but with a real twist: as the rebellious young heroine learns more about what her own culture really does, the reader realizes that there are real moral issues here, not just conflicts of style. Real evil often is done by "nice" people, and it's good to see an example of this worked out in fiction (where it's safer to let ourselves consider the presence of real moral choices). It's a rather timely topic for the present decade, which may be why this Nebula-winning book is now out of print! Do find this one if you're at all tempted.

Rating:
Summary: Why is this book out of print?? Publisher, wake up!!!
Review: This may be the best coming of age book ever published--certainly it is the least sexist. Not only did I (female) love it as an adult, both my teenage sons loved it, and have now tracked down their own copies in used book stores. It follows the heroine during her society's training for and entering their rite of passage (they are a space colony; at age 14 children must spend several weeks on a human colonized planet and survive. Many do not.), but in the process you really see the heroine grow up. Interesting issues of sustainable growth are indirectly raised, as well as those of personal responsibility. It's extremely readable. It's a great present for anyone from age 11 or 12 on. I STRONGLY recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: A book that is great science fiction and can be related to.
Review: This story of a young girl growing up two-hundred years in the future is a book that kept me glued to the pages. It is an amazing work of science fiction which paints vivid pictures of a possible future. However it is not just science fiction. Anybody who is growing up or has grown up can relate to this girl's story.

Rating:
Summary: Excelent, Enjoyable SF with heart, and even a brain too.
Review: This title, an underground classic and winner of the Nova award for Best SF Novel, is a sheer delight. Mesmerizing

Rating:
Summary: A surpassingly lovely story
Review: This was the right book at the right time for me -- age 13 when it was published in 1968 -- and it still moves me deeply. As the previous reviews make clear, it is one of the best loved sf novels of all time. It was a Nebula winner and runner-up for the Hugo, and has turned up consistently on "best sf novel" lists down to the present day. It is certainly my all-time favorite. It seems strange that this classic has remained out of print for so long. Until it appears again, all I can do is hoard my three copies and say, "Thank you, Alexei Panshin, for a book that has brought so much happiness into the world!"