Life with Lisa

Lisa #1

by Sybil E. Burr

Twelve-year-old Lisa begins to keep a diary packed with her daily hopes and fears, hoping that some day she might become as famous as her role model, Samuel Pepys.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Sybil (Edith) Burr 1909 - 2002.

Reviews

[Imogen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why this isn't considered a classic. it's brilliant fun.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa is twelve years old and worried that she is a failure because she did not pass the ll plus and get into the girls' grammar school. Wanting to improve herself, she decides to get some literature from the library, and picks up the Diary of Samuel Pepys. She is astonished to discover that pepys wrote about quite mundane things, like buying his wife a new hat etc and decides that she can also write a diary that will be read by future generations of school children ;"The schools will be amazed when they read this" as she often remarks in the course of the book. She writes dlelightfully about her problems - how to get a dress for a party she has been invited to at the home of a better off schoolfriend, and how to get a present for the girl etc, And how to help her widowed mother who works in a cafe and never has money to spare. Lisa is an endearing heroine and reading this book you enter eagerly into the ups and downs of her life.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

After failing her 11+ (this is set in 50s England) and having to go to the dreaded Secondary Modern school, 12 year old Lisa decides to record her life so that she can bequeath a legacy to future schoolchildren. She has read a bit of Samuel Pepys' Diary, while trying to be "Intellectual", and reckons that if S. Peeps (she assumes the book's editor has misspelled Pepys' name) can write about his dinner and family then so can she. And this book is the result. This is a children's book which was recommended in the Guardian and is now out of print but it is worth getting hold of a secondhand copy as it is such a charming and hilarious read. Lisa is not the sharpest nail in the toolbox but her perspective on life and people is fascinating and you can't help but enjoy her journey while willing her on to become the Success in Life that she yearns to be. Highly recommended - if you can get hold of a copy!

[Chriss Corkscrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely charming book.

Life with Lisa is the diary of a 12 year old girl in the period after World War II.

It has a beautifully distinctive voice and Lisa is just… fun! She’s kind, courageous, lively and very, very human.

I’m really pleased I tracked down a secondhand copy of this out-of-print book and I would recommend it to anyone.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a girl and I've just found another copy. Re-reading it as an adult didn't disappoint. I'm hunting a copy of the sequel but it appears to be really hard to find.

[Cheryl]

Not Found Because Lucy Mangan, Bookworm.