The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

A harsh and beautiful look at what the future could hold for us if life becomes too much living in the overcrowded and polluted cities. Agnes is very young when they leave the city to be part of an experimental study living off the land in the Wilderness. Her parents take the risk knowing that her life is at stake unless they can get her clean air. The study will take a group of people with no prior experience living off the land and plunk them into a new lifestyle without power, technology and comfort. Agnes thrives there but many of the adults don't and as the rangers take more control over where they can camp and the dangers start taking lives, tensions in the group start to mount. Agnes is dealt a blow when her mother suddenly leaves to return to the city. It is an interesting study of how societies are born and a different sense of family as well as how quickly it can fall apart. There is a quiet elegance to the landscape and an interesting parallel between how the Community is pushed around and constantly relocated to less desirable camps much like how the government relocated Native Americans long ago. Even though it is futuristic you can relate to it easily and readers who don't normally read the genre will get much out of the human power struggles and the delightful voice of Agnes.