The Ring is a colossal halo of galactic garbage orbiting the mining moon Grismore-7. Humanity's leftovers—ancient satellites, meal-pack wrappers, rusted colony ships—have been drifting here for centuries. Scavenger families live in patchwork habitats bolted to the junk, eking out a living by finding and selling pre-Collapse tech. It's a wild, ramshackle frontier where everything has been thrown away at least once, and everyone is looking for something precious in the wreckage.

Thirteen-year-old Maya's life is turned upside down when a reality TV show, The Great Galactic Bake-Off, comes to her small town to scout for its first-ever Earth contestant. The prize? An all-expenses-paid trip to the show's finale on a luxury space station and a chance to win the Galaxy Cup. Maya enters on a whim with her late father's secret chili recipe, hoping to honor his memory. To her shock, she's chosen, becoming Earth's ambassador to a competition full of talented aliens with biz...