Sing Down the Stars

Nuri survives in the desolate barrens surrounding a farfuture city by running with a gang, meaning that she steals and can get away with the packages. Her unknown parentage (she's halfhuman and half mysterious alien) makes her feel alone and out of place, until she is called to a highsecurity facility by strange psychic forces. At the facility, she discovers that she is a contender to bond with an alien starjumper and have a life among the stars. First she has to make friends, survive hazing and stay alive against powerful elites that want her out.