Porcupines in My Pants and Other Craziness

Life's going to be easy...said no one ever. Especially for a PlayStation-loving twelve-year-old in a futuristic city. Being twelve matters. Because that's when I am packed off by the Council on a hardcore, muscle-numbing strugglethon across the five Thinais - the treacherous hills, fatiguing fields, muddy mangroves, dry desert lands and dense forests - to come out shining...or whining. The latter is more my style.
It's me against Nature. Me versus wild animals. Me against who-knows-what-lurks. Me versus Me. Get the picture? How this will help me grow up and glow up all in one go, I don't know. But I'm about to find out. So are you!