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The Girl Who Owned a City (Young Adult Fiction)
by O. T. Nelson
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Runestone Press (1995-06)
ISBN: 0822531526
EAN: 9780822531524
Hardcover: 200 pages
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
SKU: N2812
Condition: Good
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
When a plague sweeps over the earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to rebuild a new way of life.
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Customer Reviews
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Good book but find the older version!
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-09-16
I remember reading this book a long time ago, and when I saw a couple episodes of the TV show "The Tribe" it made me remember it and go searching for it again. The premise is very similar.
I won't go into details on the philosophy and all that; other reviewers already have and besides, I just (still) like the book for the story. But I do have to say - find and read an older edition if at ALL possible! The "new" (1995) paperback is like a condensed version - the language is much simpler, shorter sentences, less moments of thoughtfully-worded consideration... paragraphs are shortened and sentences omitted entirely! The new version basically stinks in writing style, but the original (1977) really isn't that stilted at all. Why did the publishers go and do this? Doesn't make any sense to me. Today's kids aren't that much dumber than they were 20 years ago, that they need a version written for someone four grades lower!
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The Girl Who Owned a City
Rating (4)
Date: 2008-05-26
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Ok, now here's a story behind the story. I am currently a 32 year-old elementary teacher. I started out teaching sixth grade, for several years, but now teach primary. When I was in fifth grade our teacher read us this book. We were captivated. At the time that this book was written, the minds of kids (at least our age) could not possibly conceive of this plot-line. Everyday, we could not wait to see what happenned, and we constantly talked about the situation, struggles, and concerns of the characters.
Fast forward to the beginning of my teaching career and I remembered the protagonists name, the story-line, and nothing else. Since that time I have wanted to find this book, but had very little luck. My fifth grade teacher died about ten years ago, and I never had a chance to ask her (we worked in the same district). The power behind this book isn't necessarily literary. It is written for children. Children have minds that are black and white, most of the time. The holes in this story do create an arena to question it's integrity, but it also inspires kids to ask those questions.
As far as all of the philosophical conversations, well it has to be direct and to the point for young readers to wrap there brains around it. So really, it depends on what you are judging the book against.
In terms a childrens' book, it's not perfect. But, obviously powerful. I remembered it.
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Terrible book, interesting plot
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-04-11
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is about a girl who runs a 'city' when all adults suddenly die. I certainly do not like it and can't believe my reading group picked this.
Lisa is a terrible character herself, hardly a "heroine". She forces five year olds to drive cars, use guns, and work for their food. They're little kids, for goodness sake! It's very sad and cruel.
Her idea of a goverment? "I rule the city, I'll have a council but if I find it 'right' I won't listen, and no voting." Yes, no voting. Her exscuse? "Maybe someone will vote I can't drive my car." That's just plain stupid, and since when can ten year olds learn to drive by themselves!?! She also is strongly against the idea of sharing-and her citizen's only right is to LEAVE. And you can imagine it's not safe in a world without adults. She auctally is a dictator in her actions, bribing people with food to join her.
The virus itself is stupid. How can a virus very suddenly wipe out all people over the age of 12? Why 12? Does something super bad physically happen to everyone when they turn 13? There aren't even dead bodies, just a little paragraph about a starved-to-death cow.
Also, while the gangs are always the bad guy, Lisa's explosives, guns, and hot tar are always 'ok'. Being very strict about who to let in, and it being so dangerous in the outside world, I am guessing many innocent people were in the gangs to simply survive.
Also, I doubt kids would be emotionally stable enough to build a huge city in just a year if all of a sudden their closet adult relatives and such died without notice.
I admit this-it's a pretty cool idea. It always is cool to think about all those quirky little "what if's". If only it was played out differently, I would have adored this book.
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classroom unit
Rating (4)
Date: 2008-03-21
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I use this book with my 4th graders as a unit. The story is more about leadership and communication skills and using your brain in order to solve problems in order to survive and help others. Each chapter brings about a lot of discussion with my students. For example, everyone has an opinion on the ethics of going into a home (the owners are dead) in order to get food and supplies to live. I use several activities as we go so that my students can understand the importance of community. If you teach or just want a good book for your child, I recommend this one.
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Great for Kids....
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-01-24
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book was brought to my attention by my husband. He would talk about this book that he read when he was younger and how much he loved it. It brought on new imagination for him. We decided to purchase this book and give it to my niece for her enjoyment. My husband wanted to share with my sister's kids this book so that they could use their imagination and think outside the box as well. It is a recommended book, in my opinion, for your kids to take a look at a whole new world of being responsible and what the world would be like if they needed to take care of themselves for a while.
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