Citizen of the Galaxy

The novel unfolds in distinct movements, each a new world for Thorby. After Baslim's death he escapes with a family of Free Traders, whose crowded ship has its own complex customs and rules of kinship. Later he joins a military service fighting raiders, and finally arrives on Earth, where he must navigate wealth, law and corporate power. Each section is almost a short novel in itself.

Heinlein uses Thorby's journey to explore how different societies shape people, and how injustice can hide behind respectable institutions. The handling of slavery is serious but suitable for older children and teens, and Baslim is one of Heinlein's most moving characters, a mentor whose lessons echo throughout the book.

The structure is episodic and the final section, full of boardroom politics, is slower than the rest. Some attitudes reflect the fifties. Still, it is one of Heinlein's warmest and most humane books. Originally written for younger readers, it rewards adults too, especially in its portrait of the Free Traders, a society of space-going families with rich traditions. About 288 pages in the Pocket Books paperback.