Taking of Mariasburg

by Julian F. Thompson

Book Overview

When she inherits a large sum of money from the father that she never met, seventeen-year-old Maria decides to start a town that will be only for teenagers.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590412469
• ISBN13: 9780590412469
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.0" x 6.6"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Worth the wait

Julian F. Thompson is one of the best writers out there for young adults. This was one of my favorite books in high school, and still is despite the questionable wisdom of adulthood. The story is an unusual one, but one that I'm sure every teenager has fantasized about (I know I did). The protagonist inherits a fortune from her vanished father, and uses the money to buy a town where she and her friends can live. (Mariasburg: Population 18 and Under.) This unusual setting is the background for a story that deals with the relationships between generations and the often frightening beliefs held by religious fanatics. This book presaged the recent incidents in Waco and Montana by several years. I am rather surprised that this book is now a special order, but I suppose it could be considered rather subversive. It appears that Thompson's groundbreaking (and I believe his first) novel, The Grounding of Group 6, is out of print. Get this one if you can, from a used-book dealer. The premise appears outrageous, but Thompson's talent is such that the story is both believable and chilling.