The Girl Who Owned A City

The Girl Who Owned A City

book data

374 ratings, 3.97 average rating, 73 reviews (more data...)

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published

1977 by Laurel Leaf

binding

Paperback, 192 pages

isbn

0440928931 (isbn13: 9780440928935)

description

A killing virus has swept the earth, sparing only children through the age of twelve. There is chaos everywhere, even in formely prosperous mid-Americ...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 457)

All ratings | 5 stars (155) | 4 stars (100) | 3 stars (79) | 2 stars (28) | 1 star (15) | avg 3.97

all | this edition

Aerin

Aerin rated it:

06/29/07

bookshelves: childrens, dystopia, favorites

Read in January, 1997

This book is the reason why, to this day, whenever I drive by an old rundown school building, I have this strange desire to move in and build a community there.

This book is also the reason why, to this day, I am addicted to dystopian fiction.

In The Girl Who Owned a City, a plague sweeps through the world, killing everyone over the age of twelve. The children, left to fend for themselves, live in utter anarchy. There is no order, there is no electricity, and the food supply (from...more

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Tyree

Tyree rated it:

11/24/08

Read in November, 2008

This book is about a girl named lisa who lives alone with her brother Tom. When she was young her mother and her father died so they are living a terrible life. Thats not all, they are living in a neighborhood where there are gangs and stuff. Also there are only teenagers and kids because last year there was a virus that went around and killed all of the adults. So the all the stores are empty and they have to find out how to survive.
I can connect to this book because once there was...more

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♥Michelle♥

♥Michelle♥ rated it:

09/04/08

This book is awesome I recommend it to everyone in the whole entire world! You wont stop reading it.... you'll love it!

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

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Chandra

Chandra rated it:

10/21/08

bookshelves: kids-young-adult

So many teachers come in and out of our lives, but I will never forget Mrs. Brown. I had just moved to a new school. I was an avid reader and prior to the move English was always my favorite subject. Mrs. Brown put a stop to that nonsense. This was the first book she assigned in 7th grade English. Let's just say it was a loooong year.

The premise is a kid's dream: All the adults are gone - everyone over 12 wiped out by a mysterious illness. But the final product is a nightmare. But Mr...more

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Chris

Chris rated it:

01/04/08

Read in January, 2007

One day my girlfriend was actually out of the apartment and attending some obligation without dragging me along . In strict accordance with her habits, she continuously suspected I was scampering about with a bevy of well-endowed trollops and expected to come home to our domicile to find it reeking like the summer of 69. In actuality, I spent a large portion of these three glorious hours reading pre-teen literature....

I can’t even guess as to when I first read this book but I think it mu...more One day my girlfriend was actually out of the apartment and attending some obligation without dragging me along . In strict accordance with her habits, she continuously suspected I was scampering about with a bevy of well-endowed trollops and expected to come home to our domicile to find it reeking like the summer of 69. In actuality, I spent a large portion of these three glorious hours reading pre-teen literature....

I can’t even guess as to when I first read this book but I think it must have been recommended some time around junior high. I am assuming the only reason our school promoted this is due to it being a local piece of work. Local not as in the U.S., not even as in the fine state of Illinois, but local as in taking place in DuPage county, and teachers know that nothing stirs the imagination quite so much as a yarn spun around the following central points:
1.All humans over the age of 12 have suddenly been struck dead by some unknown twist of fate. Kids eat that sh!t up.
2.A conglomerate of childhood friends and neighbors must hold together and form a rudimentary society in order to withstand the building external threats which constantly endanger their cause. NOTE: They actually have a television show with this very concept these days - 2007

It worked for the Lord of The Flies….but can it work when this burgeoning society is led by a selfish little bitch named Lisa?

In my estimation: No.

Some tales, no matter how engrossing, no matter how awesome, can be completely undone by a crappy focal character, and Lisa fits this niche with unbound perfection. I’m sure at 12 years old I though “Golly, this chick is a dreamboat; clever, cunning, resourceful, ambitious, and firm in her way!” Approaching 30, all I can think is “If I was one of the children in Lisa’s bullshit little society, she’d best sleep with one eye open or I’m cutting her flucking neck in her sleep”. Her nemesis, the unforgiving and ruthless Tom Logan, was probably the only character I could relate to in this recent reading. Everything out of Lisa’s mouth is ‘my city’, ‘my plans’, ‘my new world order’, and she feels self-assured enough to lecture all those who foolishly follow her on how all the plans were hers, and that since she begat their whole enterprise of turning Glenbard High School into a self-sustaining city, she’s the only one with any say whatsoever, anyone who contributes through labor and thought is simply giving forth a willing contribution in return for her unerring leadership and inexhaustible diplomatic skills. When Tom Logan snakes that shit from beneath her, she complains to him in a woebegone oratory as to how low it is for him to come along and steal from her, to come and take her work, blah blah blah. If the morons and cretins that surrounded her could only come to grips with the fact that Lisa is probably a far shittier dictator than Tom Logan, this book would have some form of redemptive worth in it, especially when they inevitably revolt and understandably commit an act of blessed regicide on this deserving beotch. Alas, such hopes are foolish and for naught; her destined-to-be-gay tyke brother Toddy-Boy and the other assheads at the epicenter of this pitiful society are all duped, and all deserve to clash with a real and unmerciful legion of bandits such as the one which most of us would envision over this prepubescent ocelot excrement.

Despite the novelty of this being a variant of the post-apocalypse set in Lombard, Illinois, the wretched stupidity which is prevalent throughout can’t help raise this novel into becoming anything better than a lame read. If the story even had one Chris-Szklany-like character studying and espousing the virtues of The Social Contract, this might have a chance at being somewhat decent. Instead, the megalomaniacal bitch rules with her authoritative fist, self-centered, self-indulgent, and miserable to the last.
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Wendy

Wendy rated it:

09/16/07

Read in January, 2003

This is quite literally one of the worst books I have ever read. The writing is bland, the dialogue laughable, and it's preachy--preaching values that would be considered pretty terrible by most people in the US, since the author was a [fanatic:] libertarian (according to the jacket matter). An example: "If the city belonged to no one in particular, we'd form a group that would vote on things. And that would be bad."

Basically, a plague comes over the world that kills only adults...more

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Corine

Corine rated it:

(review of isbn 0822596709)

05/17/08

First off I have to say that this book is amazing. It starts with a girl by the name of Lisa, who is living in a suburban town that drastically gets infected by a deadly plague, that wipes out everyone over the age of 12. Lisa and her little brother,Todd, have to find ways to survive on thier own, without any adults. The kids have to face, gangs, fights, finding thier own food supplies, guarding thier weapons and homes, and most importantly, thier lives.
This book was very intense. Since I, mys...more

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Hailey

Hailey rated it:

12/01/08

I read this for a book report at the last minute because it was the shortest thing on my bookshelf.

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Angeluismanzueta

Angeluismanzueta rated it:

11/25/08

i already wrote a paper book report

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Amy

Amy rated it:

09/26/08

Read in September, 2008

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I read this book, though the narrative was interesting enough. It should be titled "Objectivism for beginners" or "If Ayn Rand wrote for children". Again, the story was compelling, but the heroine bordered on being the first 10 year old egomaniac. A preachy tale about individuality at all costs. Characters (except perhaps Lisa's little brother, Todd.)were flat and unsympathetic. There are better ways to use your time.

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m.g.

m.g. rated it:

11/12/07

Read in January, 1989

One of my favorite YA books when I was a kid. A plague has killed all the adults and noone over the age of puberty has survived (totally awesome premise for a kid). A 12-year-old girl learns survival skills and manages to build a community to protect herself, her little brother and other vulnerable younger kids against the violent and looting kid-gangs. How cool is this book?
I re-read it probably about five years ago & it was still rad.

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Tim

Tim rated it:

07/14/07

Read in June, 2003

recommends it for: Fans of post-apocolyptic sci-fi

I like post-apocolyptic sci-fi and this one pretty well fills the ticket. For me its fun to think about how I would respond to the challenges that the characters face.
It's been a while since I read this book, so my memory is a bit foggy. It seems like the characters were a bit flat. If I recall, the storyline was pretty much standard. But that doesn't meen it wasn't entertaining. This is good, clean post-apocolyptic sci-fi for the pre-teen crowd.

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Abby

Abby rated it:

12/02/08

bookshelves: read-at-school

Read in December, 2008

recommended to Abby by: my teacher Miss.Bush

I am done and whoa that book is way cool

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Katrina

Katrina rated it:

02/07/08

I swear this book changed my life. I probably read it back in 3rd grade, finding it in the school library. I have read it several times since, and still considerate it one of my ultimate favorites. This book really makes you think.

It's a story of survival in a familiar but changed world. The heroine is reluctant, but soon picks up the role with pride. What-ifs and ideas will follow you long after putting the book down.

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Mahima

Mahima rated it:

04/23/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: to ten year olds!

Have you ever read a book where you can't put it down?
This was one of them for me. In this fictional book, O.T. Nelson forms a well-developed character who earns her rewards and also is a role model for 10 year olds. I think the author has done a great job with the story!It deserves to get an award! If you ever have a book report on a fictional book, you won't be bored with this one!

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Brynn

Brynn rated it:

09/03/07

Read in September, 2007

Despite this exceedingly stupid cover, this is one of my favorite books ever. In 4th grade, when my teacher handed it to me to read, I discovered for the first time the idea of not being able to put down a book. I'm rereading it at the moment in hopes of reading it aloud to my sixth grade class, which is all girls. I think they'll really dig it.

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Cheniliz

Cheniliz rated it:

11/04/08

I liked this book because its intresting and its fun to read. i like this book because it has a lot of action. i like this book because it teaches you a really good lesson. the theme is to have good responsibilities and always be ready for something bad that might happen the next day of your life.also to never give up.

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Maria

Maria added it

01/09/08

Read in September, 2004

I read this book for school, and kept seeing this type of situation as a possibility. It is sort of funny though that it bases the age effectiveness at around maturity, and now that i have read His Dark Materials, they are sort of similar in a roundabout way. Just the outcomes are a little different.

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Nataly

Nataly rated it:

09/25/08

"THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A GIRL WHO LIVES IN A TIME WHERE ADULTS ARE DEAD AND SHE AND OTHER YOUNG KIDS ARE ALONE NOW SHE IS GOING TO MOVE ON TO HELP HER BROTHER AND KIDS TO LIVE BUT SHE NEED TO FIGHT AND BE BRAVE TO OVE ALONG.!" I LEARN THAT BEING DTRONG MAKES YOU TO MOVE ALONG! I LOVE THIS BOOK!

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Sanah

Sanah rated it:

06/13/08

Read in April, 2007

I liked this book so much. It really inspires confidence that even kids can do great things if they set their mind to it. Lisa is very resourceful and street-smart, which is something that you don't learn in school but are qualities you should strive to acquire.

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