Book Review by Aarene Storms: The Girl Who Owned a City (Graphic Novel)
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Girl Who Owned a City (Graphic Novel)
by OT Nelson, adapted by Dan Jolley, illustrated by Joelle Jones
A plague has killed all the adults. Only kids under age 12 have survived the mysterious virus...but without adults to feed them and keep them safe, many kids are doomed as well. Not Lisa Nelson, though: she has a plan. In fact, Lisa has a lot of plans. Her first plan is to gather the neighborhood kids and form a militia to defend themselves (and the stuff they've scavanged from abandoned houses and farms). When that plan is thwarted by the Chidester Gang, Lisa and her militia find an abandoned high school and turn it into an fortress. But even that plan doesn't work out the way Lisa thought it would...
Does this sound like an Ayn Rand dystopia, re-written for ten-year-olds? That's exactly what it is.
The story is clunky in many places, and adult readers won't be able to stop pointing out the gaping plot holes (...ahem, sanitation for 800 kids in a single building without running water...) but the target audience of 4th-6th grade readers will enjoy the adventures of these Lost Boys (and girls) who live their lives with no adult intervention. The illustrations are colorful and engaging, however, most of the kids look older than they are supposed to be according to the text.
by OT Nelson, adapted by Dan Jolley, illustrated by Joelle Jones
A plague has killed all the adults. Only kids under age 12 have survived the mysterious virus...but without adults to feed them and keep them safe, many kids are doomed as well. Not Lisa Nelson, though: she has a plan. In fact, Lisa has a lot of plans. Her first plan is to gather the neighborhood kids and form a militia to defend themselves (and the stuff they've scavanged from abandoned houses and farms). When that plan is thwarted by the Chidester Gang, Lisa and her militia find an abandoned high school and turn it into an fortress. But even that plan doesn't work out the way Lisa thought it would...
Does this sound like an Ayn Rand dystopia, re-written for ten-year-olds? That's exactly what it is.
The story is clunky in many places, and adult readers won't be able to stop pointing out the gaping plot holes (...ahem, sanitation for 800 kids in a single building without running water...) but the target audience of 4th-6th grade readers will enjoy the adventures of these Lost Boys (and girls) who live their lives with no adult intervention. The illustrations are colorful and engaging, however, most of the kids look older than they are supposed to be according to the text.
Rating:
No sex, no drugs. Violence includes bullying, gangfights, gunfights, and medieval defenses of the high school "fortress," including boiling oil dumped from the ramparts onto invading "soldiers."
The events may not have happened; still, the story is true. --R. Silvern
Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS
The events may not have happened; still, the story is true. --R. Silvern
Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS
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