The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson

I would recommend this book for slightly older readers, like eleven and up. At some points in the story, it feels like Nelson is speaking through Lisa so she acts more like a middle-aged man than a girl. Nelson has written and was based on an idea about what if his children were left alone without him. I had read that this is the only book that O.T. Looking back, this book was kind of nuts.

Nelson goes into detail about the process of creating the big fortress, the kind of booby traps the kids make (including Molotov cocktails and attack dogs). There's a part where Lisa has to drive a car to go loot some homes and stores. I think why I liked this book so much as a kid was the thought of being on your own and having to take care of yourself. Lisa, Todd and a group other children form the Grand Avenue gang and turn their entire neighborhood into a fortress. Since all the adults are dead the children begin to form gangs for survival and protection. So basically it's the 1970s version of Lord of the Flies with a female protagonist. The Girl Who Owned a city is about a ten-year-old girl named Lisa who along with her younger brother, Todd, survive a plague that kills anyone over the age of twelve. Looking back as an adult, I wonder if anyone was concerned about what I was reading.

I remember reading this book when I was in 3rd or 4th grade and I remember loving it so much I did a book report on it.

The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson