We are born to work. River Thorns knows it, but she does not agree. She believes in the beauty of nature and the human right to be free. But in her town, seventeen year-olds are assigned permanent jobs during the annual Choosing ceremony, so she knows that her days of freedom are numbered. When she gets mine work, she understands that she will spend the rest of her life cut out from the outdoors she loves. Her mentor Cole, who should be teaching her how to do her job, spends days telling h...