HALF WAY HOME by Hugh Howey

Young Adult Science Fiction has two problems that I can see.  One, a lot of authors are clueless about how to get behind the eyes of real teenagers.  And, two, they still think girls got kooties.
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Hugh Howey doesn't have these problems.
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Porter's one of many 'babies.'  Programmed and educated from conception to be what someone else has decided they should be, they've been nourished and stimulated in artificial wombs almost into adulthood.  They were meant to be in those 'wombs' for thirty years, totally bypassing adolescence and parenting to become what is deemed truly worthwhile - adults.
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But, they're spaceship landed with an indecisive controller, 'Colony.' 
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About sixty survived and came out of their wombs cold, naked, hungry, and totally clueless, except for their programming.  The rest burned in an 'abort phase.'
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Porter was programmed to be the philosopher, which isn't considered that important.  With adolescent cluelessness rampant though, he quickly becomes integral.  He also forms a fast friendship with Tarsi, a girl who came out of her womb right next to him, and Kelvin.
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'Colony' orders them to begin working on a rocket, not taking into account that it's human nature to survive first.  They start work, but the business of surviving distracts.
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Not to mention there are girls, and the knowledge if they don't procreate they'll die out.
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'Colony' doesn't seem to notice or care about their longtime survival though.
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But, love and the human tendency to form families, even ones which don't involve sex, soon distracts them too.
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Porter loves both Tarsi and Kelvin.  In fact, he's a little bewildered to realize he loves Tarsi like a sister and Kelvin like...well...something else.  Tarsi loves Porter, you know, that way and Kelvin loves Tarsi.  Poor ol' Porter.
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Then, there's this big tractor-eating monster and vinnies, which are edible but gross Porter out.
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So, the teens are out surviving, falling in love, and forming families, you know, like humans do, but there are a few, the enforcers, who are determined that they toe 'Colony's line.  They run away from all that, but 'Colony' doesn't give up his little 'cult' so easily.
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I say 'cult' because the whole story reminds me of children raised in a cult, brainwashed into being a certain way, boys raised to be obedient laborers, girls raised to be sex slaves or whatever.  But, it's love which drives them away towards freedom, the desire for a true mate, the ability to imagine a better world.
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It also reminds me of LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding, but I like HALF WAY HOME better.  It's hopeful.  It exemplifies and celebrates human nature and the incredible ability of young people to create wonderful lives of their own...
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...in spite of adults.
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Pop over to the author's website to learn more-  http://www.hughhowey.com/