Not sure what/who recommended this, and I'm surprised I hadn't read it already, as its a bit of a classic, from the 60's. It's a typical dystopian YA, with a young boy, faced with a coming of age ritual, who decides to rebel and head off in search of answers. Earth is now dominated by huge mechanical tripods, reminiscent of War of the Worlds, that 'cap' everyone at puberty to control them, either as peasant level workers or as members of a feudal ruling class. Will and his two companions, one brawn, one brains, set off in search of the mysterious White Mountains, where they have heard there are others like them, rebels against their overlords.
And suddenly it's over. Three pages from the end, they are still not that close, with miles of open plain to cross, followed by the foothills of the White Mountains, and Tripods roaming about. Then suddenly all three adventurers are high in the mountains, settling in with their new rebel friends. It's like one of my NaNoWriMo drafts, where I reached passed the 0k word limit and just stopped with a few quick notes for later on. But the author makes a big point in his introduction about how much editing and complete re-writing his publisher made him do.
Except for that ending, it's a good story - light and entertaining, capturing well the insecurities of a young teenager.