The Australia Trilogy Series by J.P. Smythe

Seventeen-year-old Chan's ancestors left a dying Earth hundreds of years ago, in search of a new home. Generations later, they are still searching . . .Every day aboard the interstellar transport ship Australia is a kind of hell, where no one is safe, no one can hide. Indeed, the only life Chan's ever known is one of endless violence. A life of survival... moreSeventeen-year-old Chan's ancestors left a dying Earth hundreds of years ago, in search of a new home. Generations later, they are still searching . . .Every day aboard the interstellar transport ship Australia is a kind of hell, where no one is safe, no one can hide. Indeed, the only life Chan's ever known is one of endless violence. A life of survival. Fiercely independent and entirely self-sufficient, she has learned to keep her head down as much as possible, careful not to draw attention to herself amidst the mayhem. For the Australia is a ship of death, filled with murderous gangs and twisted cults, vying for supremacy in a closed environment with limited resources and no hope. And then one day Chan makes an extraordinary discovery--there may be a way to return the Australia to Earth. But doing so will only bring her to the attention of the fanatics and murderers who control life aboard the ship, putting her and everyone she loves in terrible danger. Is it worth endangering her life and the lives of her few friends and loved ones for an uncertain return to a home world that may be uninhabitable? Especially since to do so she must descend into the deep dark in the bowels of the ship, which is piled high with the bodies and the secrets of the dead . . . less

As soon as teenaged Chan Aitch learned the horrible truth about life on Australia and its fateful mission, she vowed to save everyone she could from the gangs and cultists fighting for control of the ship's limited resources. Now that Australia has crashed back to Earth, though, her efforts seem to have been in vain: everyone she cares about is dead or in prison... moreAs soon as teenaged Chan Aitch learned the horrible truth about life on Australia and its fateful mission, she vowed to save everyone she could from the gangs and cultists fighting for control of the ship's limited resources. Now that Australia has crashed back to Earth, though, her efforts seem to have been in vain: everyone she cares about is dead or in prison.As one of the few to have survived the ship's return, Chan is now living in poverty on the fringes of a huge city, on a planet she's never known but always dreamed of. She's barely mustering the will to survive when she learns that Mae, the little girl she once rescued on Australia, could be alive. But she has no idea where Mae is, or how to find her. In addition to being alone in an unfamiliar city, Chan has never felt more helpless.But she'll do whatever it takes to find Mae, even if it means going to prison herself to track the girl down. After all, she's broken out of prison before--how hard could it be to do it on Earth? less