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pussinbooks's review
This graphic novel is just like the book I remember reading in elementary school. Now that I'm an adult, I can see the Objectivist ideals at work in the story. Lisa is sure everyone is happier when they have a job to keep them occupied. She even has a cruel line about how she won't share her food with starving children because they weren't smart enough to go out and find it. Yikes. But hey, the image of a 12yo girl with a shotgun slung over her shoulder walking away from a burning building is bad ass.
atinydisaster's review
4.0
Review originally posted at ReaWrite.com
Looking at some of the reviews on Goodreads, it’s obvious that not enough people read this book growing up. More than one mentioned how the idea of a dystopia where there are no parents isn’t a new concept, but for me… The Girl Who Owned a City is the original. This story is older than I am, and still holds up today. It’s probably fair to say that it’s a less realistic version of how events might unfold than some of the newer versions, but you can’t deny that this story sparks imagination.
TGWOC holds up beautifully as a graphic novel, and the illustrations fit the mood of the story perfectly. The cover alone was enough to get me to read the entire graphic novel right through as soon as I got the copy from NetGalley. The characters are all vivid, with defining characteristics but what really stood out for me was the quality of the backgrounds. You could really envision the post-apocalyptic world that these kids are living in, trying to survive.
I do feel like some of the pacing was off, due to the limitations of a graphic novel, (the ending seemed almost too easy) but the story is still strong enough that it might leave the same impact on kids reading it today as it did for me in fourth grade.
Highly recommended for anyone who didn’t have a chance to read this growing up, or for kids today who will live living Lisa’s story through this wonderful graphic novel. I’m so glad someone decided to breathe new life back into this story, and I’m sure it will be very well received.
Looking at some of the reviews on Goodreads, it’s obvious that not enough people read this book growing up. More than one mentioned how the idea of a dystopia where there are no parents isn’t a new concept, but for me… The Girl Who Owned a City is the original. This story is older than I am, and still holds up today. It’s probably fair to say that it’s a less realistic version of how events might unfold than some of the newer versions, but you can’t deny that this story sparks imagination.
TGWOC holds up beautifully as a graphic novel, and the illustrations fit the mood of the story perfectly. The cover alone was enough to get me to read the entire graphic novel right through as soon as I got the copy from NetGalley. The characters are all vivid, with defining characteristics but what really stood out for me was the quality of the backgrounds. You could really envision the post-apocalyptic world that these kids are living in, trying to survive.
I do feel like some of the pacing was off, due to the limitations of a graphic novel, (the ending seemed almost too easy) but the story is still strong enough that it might leave the same impact on kids reading it today as it did for me in fourth grade.
Highly recommended for anyone who didn’t have a chance to read this growing up, or for kids today who will live living Lisa’s story through this wonderful graphic novel. I’m so glad someone decided to breathe new life back into this story, and I’m sure it will be very well received.
yokorie's review
3.0
I wasn't as impressed by The Girl Who Owned a City as the inside cover had me hoping I would be.
So, you've found yourself having survived the apocalypse! Good job! You're under the age of 12 because some freaky disease wiped out all of the adults and teenagers, leaving you and your little friends to fend for yourselves. You have three choices: 1) Die (that's what everyone seems to be doing, after all) 2) Fight it! You're tough! But die (or at least go through an extreme amount of hardship) because there's no food/ disease/ other, super mean, kids/ a lack of safe shelter/ etc. Your last option is C) Live a pretty comfortable life because food is plentiful, shelter is readily found and always safe, those around you are eager to help, you have some first-aid kits, and you are a character in the graphic novel The Girl Who Owned a City, based on the novel by the same name.
Abandonment and survival are staples of post-apocalyptic (in this case, plague-caused) literature, but this book has somehow been able to subvert every possible hardship that a bunch of children, now orphans, could possibly face. Food? It's a little rough at first, but there's enough to go around. Housing? Everyone has shelter. Health? No disease/ ear infections/ boo-boos here. By the time the climax comes and the only real conflict in the book comes to head? That turns out just a-okay too. There's very little semblance of hardship or struggle, or if there is it's recovered incredibly quickly. Man, these kids are super lucky. Man vs. nature, man vs. man, and other conflicts that typically arise in apocalyptic books just aren't found here, or are squashed quickly by good old fashion hard work.
I am thankful for the artwork, though. It's beautiful, and it was the vibrant cover that caught my eye in the first place. The linework and colors are amazing, and I would have enjoyed seeing more had the book been longer.
Speaking of longer, did I mention how short the book is? It isn't as though a lot of conflict was cut out because the book was pushing hundreds of pages, it took me less than an hour to get through. There was room for more conflict, more struggles, more doubts of survival, etc.
I'm not asking for these things because I'm a sadist, but if you're going to take on the lofty goal of portraying a society of children, all aged 12 and younger, in a world where literally all of the teenagers and adults are gone I would expect to see things that would be a little more troubling than what's portrayed in The Girl Who Owned a City. My library has it listed as "young adult," but I'm certain a fourth or fifth grader could conquer this book just fine.
I love female protagonists, and enjoyed Lisa as far as characters go, but I wish she had been given more so that we could see just how much she can do.
So, you've found yourself having survived the apocalypse! Good job! You're under the age of 12 because some freaky disease wiped out all of the adults and teenagers, leaving you and your little friends to fend for yourselves. You have three choices: 1) Die (that's what everyone seems to be doing, after all) 2) Fight it! You're tough! But die (or at least go through an extreme amount of hardship) because there's no food/ disease/ other, super mean, kids/ a lack of safe shelter/ etc. Your last option is C) Live a pretty comfortable life because food is plentiful, shelter is readily found and always safe, those around you are eager to help, you have some first-aid kits, and you are a character in the graphic novel The Girl Who Owned a City, based on the novel by the same name.
Abandonment and survival are staples of post-apocalyptic (in this case, plague-caused) literature, but this book has somehow been able to subvert every possible hardship that a bunch of children, now orphans, could possibly face. Food? It's a little rough at first, but there's enough to go around. Housing? Everyone has shelter. Health? No disease/ ear infections/ boo-boos here. By the time the climax comes and the only real conflict in the book comes to head? That turns out just a-okay too. There's very little semblance of hardship or struggle, or if there is it's recovered incredibly quickly. Man, these kids are super lucky. Man vs. nature, man vs. man, and other conflicts that typically arise in apocalyptic books just aren't found here, or are squashed quickly by good old fashion hard work.
I am thankful for the artwork, though. It's beautiful, and it was the vibrant cover that caught my eye in the first place. The linework and colors are amazing, and I would have enjoyed seeing more had the book been longer.
Speaking of longer, did I mention how short the book is? It isn't as though a lot of conflict was cut out because the book was pushing hundreds of pages, it took me less than an hour to get through. There was room for more conflict, more struggles, more doubts of survival, etc.
I'm not asking for these things because I'm a sadist, but if you're going to take on the lofty goal of portraying a society of children, all aged 12 and younger, in a world where literally all of the teenagers and adults are gone I would expect to see things that would be a little more troubling than what's portrayed in The Girl Who Owned a City. My library has it listed as "young adult," but I'm certain a fourth or fifth grader could conquer this book just fine.
I love female protagonists, and enjoyed Lisa as far as characters go, but I wish she had been given more so that we could see just how much she can do.
ksa378's review
3.0
i liked how the girl was smart on stealing and i liked her leadership but thats about it
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
So, apparently if women owned cities they would turn into benevolent dictators.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I think I'm officially turning into a GN snob. A really great friend and librarian colleague of mine recently read this and loved it. I just kept seeing the flaws.
I get that this came first. That it's a dystopian tale about all the adults dying and the kids having to figure out how to survive and it stars a GIRL and the original book came out in 1975. I totally like the feel of the art. And THE COLORING is freaking awesome. MAJOR props to Jenn Manley Lee.
But here are my complaints...
1. Sizeism. Granted, food is hard to come by when society is falling down around your ears. But all of the major characters are thin and attractive. Also pretty darn diverse for Illinois.
2. Publishing quality. My copy had several entire pages slightly out of focus. Hate that.
3. Nit-picky Panel-level storytelling. There was one specific panel where I stopped and just couldn't believe that experienced graphic novelists had packed that much of an important speech at a pivotal moment into one tiny panel in the corner of a page (pg 16, bottom right). Take some time. Let her get a panel for each sentence. Using several panels spaces out how much time it's taking for the character to say the lines (some tips might be taken from [a:Jason Shiga|469075|Jason Shiga|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391381898p2/469075.jpg]). Don't make us think about how much of a speech you're putting in one panel in the first place.
Also, images are recycled, which always bugs me when I notice it (pg 119). Oh yeah, and the lettering isn't hand-drawn. Which bugs me.
4. Didacticism. Granted this came out in 1975, but I felt like it was screaming for an adult to ask the kid "Do you think that the heroine was right or wrong to do what she did and claim what she claimed?" I wanted some subplots to distract from the agenda.
5. Violence. Granted, I'm extrasensitive to anything that involves dogs, but I didn't like that the dogs were merely one more weapon and were trained to be vicious. Also, zero thought or attention was paid to how violent some of the kids defense methods were - guns galore, boiling oil, explosives... Violence doesn't normally bother me (I LOVE the Gone series by [a:Michael Grant|1599723|Michael Grant|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1538930014p2/1599723.jpg], for example), but in a book that felt so "message-y" I wanted there to be at least a nod to how violent the world became. Maybe it's in the prose.
Honestly, I was shocked that the creators had the GN cred they did when I read their bios at the end. It felt like a project that was a publishers idea, in a bad way. A mostly successful one, but one that didn't quite hit it for me.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I think I'm officially turning into a GN snob. A really great friend and librarian colleague of mine recently read this and loved it. I just kept seeing the flaws.
I get that this came first. That it's a dystopian tale about all the adults dying and the kids having to figure out how to survive and it stars a GIRL and the original book came out in 1975. I totally like the feel of the art. And THE COLORING is freaking awesome. MAJOR props to Jenn Manley Lee.
But here are my complaints...
1. Sizeism. Granted, food is hard to come by when society is falling down around your ears. But all of the major characters are thin and attractive. Also pretty darn diverse for Illinois.
2. Publishing quality. My copy had several entire pages slightly out of focus. Hate that.
3. Nit-picky Panel-level storytelling. There was one specific panel where I stopped and just couldn't believe that experienced graphic novelists had packed that much of an important speech at a pivotal moment into one tiny panel in the corner of a page (pg 16, bottom right). Take some time. Let her get a panel for each sentence. Using several panels spaces out how much time it's taking for the character to say the lines (some tips might be taken from [a:Jason Shiga|469075|Jason Shiga|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391381898p2/469075.jpg]). Don't make us think about how much of a speech you're putting in one panel in the first place.
Also, images are recycled, which always bugs me when I notice it (pg 119). Oh yeah, and the lettering isn't hand-drawn. Which bugs me.
4. Didacticism. Granted this came out in 1975, but I felt like it was screaming for an adult to ask the kid "Do you think that the heroine was right or wrong to do what she did and claim what she claimed?" I wanted some subplots to distract from the agenda.
5. Violence. Granted, I'm extrasensitive to anything that involves dogs, but I didn't like that the dogs were merely one more weapon and were trained to be vicious. Also, zero thought or attention was paid to how violent some of the kids defense methods were - guns galore, boiling oil, explosives... Violence doesn't normally bother me (I LOVE the Gone series by [a:Michael Grant|1599723|Michael Grant|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1538930014p2/1599723.jpg], for example), but in a book that felt so "message-y" I wanted there to be at least a nod to how violent the world became. Maybe it's in the prose.
Honestly, I was shocked that the creators had the GN cred they did when I read their bios at the end. It felt like a project that was a publishers idea, in a bad way. A mostly successful one, but one that didn't quite hit it for me.
asimilarkite's review
4.0
I was actually really impressed by this. A good friend of mine LOVES the original novel, but I had never had a chance to read it. When the graphic novel version came across the new book shelf at the library, I swiped it and checked it out immediately.
It's a pretty standard dystopian story (one that seems to be repeated a lot as of late, but let us remember, this one came first) -- everyone over the age of 12 is dead, and the kids have to take over.
What I really liked about this is that it read a lot like a graphic novel version of the TV show "The Colony". Which is to say that it's not an action/adventure story, but rather an exploration of how society could possibly re-organize itself after a catastrophic event.
I also thought it was cool that the main character and the leader was a girl! And she was a totally bad ass girl with real feelings and doubts and leadership skills!
Also also, the art is FANTASTIC. I LOVE this art. Why don't more graphic novels have this kind of art? The people are stylized and interesting and expressive, and it's aaall in color. Every picture is beautiful and striking, and it's one of the few graphic novels I've read where I've spent just as much time looking at the art as reading the words (if you look closely enough, there's a little girl picking her nose in one of the frames, tee hee).
I'll have to go back and read the original to see how it compares, but I thought this was a remarkably well done graphic novel. If I ever get a chance to book talk to middle schoolers, I'll definitely use this one.
It's a pretty standard dystopian story (one that seems to be repeated a lot as of late, but let us remember, this one came first) -- everyone over the age of 12 is dead, and the kids have to take over.
What I really liked about this is that it read a lot like a graphic novel version of the TV show "The Colony". Which is to say that it's not an action/adventure story, but rather an exploration of how society could possibly re-organize itself after a catastrophic event.
I also thought it was cool that the main character and the leader was a girl! And she was a totally bad ass girl with real feelings and doubts and leadership skills!
Also also, the art is FANTASTIC. I LOVE this art. Why don't more graphic novels have this kind of art? The people are stylized and interesting and expressive, and it's aaall in color. Every picture is beautiful and striking, and it's one of the few graphic novels I've read where I've spent just as much time looking at the art as reading the words (if you look closely enough, there's a little girl picking her nose in one of the frames, tee hee).
I'll have to go back and read the original to see how it compares, but I thought this was a remarkably well done graphic novel. If I ever get a chance to book talk to middle schoolers, I'll definitely use this one.
vidula's review
2.0
I didn't like this book. Maybe it was because I read the graphic novel so I didn't get the "full" experience, but I genuinely felt like the plot and characters were lacking a lot. Especially the characters. I liked some parts of the plot, but I felt like I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I will say, I liked the concept of the book, but it could've been executed better. That being said, most of these things are honestly just personal preference, so if you pick this book up, you may enjoy it, even if I didn't.
amydieg's review
1.0
Terribly disappointed. One of those books that seems to assume that because it is for kids it doesn't need a solid plot, character development, or nuance of any kind. And the cover was so cool. SIGH.
boffybeau's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5