The Tale of One Bad Rat / Bryan Talbot

The Tale of One Bad Rat is a graphic novel by Bryan Talbot about a runaway teen girl who is trying to survive on the streets of London and as she travels in the English countryside. Helen carries a pet rat on some of her journey and she is apparently tracing a path followed by Beatrix Potter at one point in her life. Helen tries to avoid religious zealots, groping-drunk politicians and prostitutes. Helen also has hallucinations about dying or being in dangerous situations. Helen is fleeing an abusive father and harassing mother and she meets plenty of kind people in her travels, but she has a hard time trusting some of her new friends.

The Tale of One Bad Rat is an emotional and thought provoking story. It doesn’t tread lightly on the nature of sexual abuse or living on the street. Helen faces many dangers and has a huge mental obstacle to navigate in overcoming the guilty she feels from being abused. The illustrations in the story support the text, by showing the girls physical circumstances, her hallucinations, and instilling a mood over each scene in the story. Bryan Talbot has written and important story for anyone who needs to know about child abuse!

Talbot, B. (1995). Tales of one bad rat. Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants / Ann Brashares

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a charming movie based on the book of the same title by Ann Brashares. The story is about four teenage girls who have been friends all of their lives. One day all four girls go shopping and they find a pair of jeans that fit all of them perfectly. This is a surprise, because not all four girls wear the same sized clothing. The girls take this find as a mystical sign and choose to share the pants for one week at a time over a summer when they will spend most of the time apart. The girls all have eventful summers and some think the pants bring good luck, while some think the pants bring bad luck.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants deals with issues that typical western teen girls have like, boyfriends, sex, family problems, and friendships. The story is not a hard edged one even though it deals with some potentially thorny issues. The girls lead fairly comfortable lives and in the end they all deal with their issues in a mostly positive manner. This is a feel good story for girls, which allows them to believe in the magic of friendship and in real magic… if they want too.

Chase, D. M. (Producer), & Kwapis, K.(Director). (2005). Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants [Motion
picture]. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, Incorporated.