The Girl Who Owned a City

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

• 2008 young adult novel
• Connects to themes of The Nature of Proper Governance and Idealism Versus Practicality
• Compare and contrast Lisa and Katniss as female protagonists determined to survive.
• The Hunger Games on SuperSummary

“Mayflower Compact: Roots of Our Democracy”

• Clip from the 2020 NBC News Learn production “1620: Beyond Thanksgiving”
• Connects to themes of The Nature of Proper Governance and Individualism Versus Collectivism
• Lisa cites the Pilgrims in support of her claims about individual rights: How does the video frame the balance the Pilgrims struck between individual rights and community needs?

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

• 1987 young adult novel
• Connects to themes of Thinking Through Problems and Individualism
• Compare the process through which Brian and Lisa each learn how to take care of themselves: How do their different environments (the presence or absence of other people and societal resources) affect this process?
• Hatchet on SuperSummary

“What Work Is” by Philip Levine

• 1992 poem
• Connects to the theme of Earning One’s Way
• Compare and contrast Levine’s depiction of work with Nelson’s.

“The age-old sharing economies of Africa—and why we should scale them up” by Robert Neuwirth

• 2017 TED Talk
• Connects to themes of Earning One’s Way and Individualism Versus Collectivism
• Consider how Neuwirth’s discussion of sharing economies compares to the kind of “economy” Lisa establishes.

Other Student Resources

“John Locke, Natural Rights”

• 2020 video from NBC News Learn
• Provides a brief overview of Locke’s views on individual rights and the social contract, which influenced the US Constitution and American political culture (and, in turn, Nelson)

Teacher Resources

“Ayn Rand”

• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Ayn Rand, whose theory of objectivism influenced Nelson in his depiction of ethics, government, economy, etc.