Refugee

Teenager Hope Hubris and his family flee the Jupiter moon Callisto after their home becomes unlivable, joining a crowded convoy of refugees crammed into a barely spaceworthy 'bubble' bound for the gas giant's cloud cities. The journey is nothing like the fresh start the passengers are hoping for: overcrowding, scarce supplies and predatory fellow travelers turn the trip itself into a test of survival long before anyone reaches Jupiter's questionable safety. Piers Anthony's opening volume of Bio of a Space Tyrant, framed as the memoir of a man whose later life will take him somewhere far more powerful than a refugee ship.