Citizen of the Galaxy

In a distant galaxy of colonized planets, the atrocity of slavery is alive and well. Young Thorby was just another bedraggled orphan boy sold at auction, but his new owner, Baslim, is not the disabled beggar he appears to be. Adopting Thorby as his son, Baslim fights relentlessly as an abolitionist spy. When the authorities close in on Baslim, Thorby must find his own way in a hostile galaxy. Joining with the Free Traders, a league of merchant princes, Thorby must find the courage to live by his wits and fight his way up from society's lowest rung. But Thorby's destiny will be forever changed when he discovers the truth about his own identity.Citizen of the Galaxy is a suspenseful tale of adventure, coming of age, and interstellar conflict by science fiction's Grand Master.

Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988) took a variety of jobs before beginning to write science fiction in 1939. He became the dominant science fiction writer of the modern era, a writer whose influence on the field was immense. He won science fiction's Hugo Award for best novel seven times, and several of his books were New York Times bestsellers. In 1975 he received the first Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement.