Help identifying a book

[xiphias]

So, I saw my doctor today. Before we started the exam, we were chatting. He mentioned that there was this book that he'd read a couple years ago, and he stupidly didn't write down the title or author. So he was wondering if I, or, more to the point, Lis, could identify it. I said I'd ask around and see if any of my friends knew.

This was a book that one of his med students lent to him a couple years ago. It was one of HER favorite books when she was a girl, and she's now around thirtyish, so the book was around at least twenty years ago or so.

It's a dystopian world. The ruling, powerful class lives underground, and the surface world is given over to "barbarians".

The rite of passage for the underground-dwellers is to be dropped on the surface and have to make their way to another point on the surface. The main character is the daughter of a ruler of the underground world. She's going on her rite of passage, and, as it turns out, she's really good at it.

That's pretty much what Dr. Sagov could remember about it. He'd really like to find a copy of this book because his daughter is 10, and he thinks she'd really like it. He did.

Oh, one other thing: in general, Dr. Sagov has pretty good taste, so it's unlikely that this is a book which really sucks rocks through a bendy straw, since he generally doesn't like that kind of book.

Comments

[basmati.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they might be able to help you here: http://www.logan.com/loganberry/solved.html

[ookpik.livejournal.com]

Rite of Passage, by Alexei Panshin? I don't recall that the ruling class lives underground--rather, they travel the stars, if I remember correctly--but otherwise it fits.

[tylik.livejournal.com]

That reminds me a lot of a bool called "A Rite of Passage" though the ruling class lived in hollowed out asteroid starships, and put their teenagers down on inhabited planets.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it might be mis-combined memories of Alexei Panshin's Rite of Passage -- mentioned already by a couple of people -- and another book in which "everybody" lived underground.

I couldn't say what the second might be, because the first use was in 1909 (E. M. Forster's short story "The Machine Stops") and it's been used a number of times since. I think there was a peak in the 1970s, but I haven't checked.

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

The everybody underground thing made me think of some of Monica Hughes' YA s/f novels, notably Devil On My Back and its sequel. Her Keeper of the Isis Light and The Guardian of Isis, etc, are very good as well.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

...I want to say it might be Below the Root, which was book one of a trilogy. Dunno if that's it, though.

[aranel.livejournal.com]

It doesn't match up exactly, but the description reminded me of the Green-Sky books (of which Below the Root is the second) too. They are by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

See, to me, that title just makes me think of the classic Apple II computer game, but apparently, the game was based on the books.