"Once upon a time, there was a very bad rat..." So begins The Tale of One Bad Rat.  And though it would seem a classic Beatrix Potter beginning, this tale is not hers, but is actually a graphic novel written and illustrated by British artist Bryan Talbot. For those unfamiliar with the term, graphic novels are essentially thick comic books, often collected from a series of individual comics. It's a format not entirely dissimilar to Beatrix Potter's own, and the similarities with her work do not end there. 

    As in many of Potter's tales, Bad Rat's main character is one of unfortunate circumstance who has to see her way past the wicked foxes and ill-tempered farmers of her life to find her happily ever after. Instead of using an actual rat, though, Talbot introduces us to Helen Potter, a wildly imaginative, homeless teenager, whose only possessions are the Beatrix Potter books she took when she ran away from home and whose only friend is her small nameless pet rat. 

    Helen's world on the streets of 1990s London is not an easy one. She gets by panhandling and through the kindness of her fellow street kids, but is plagued by occasional bursts of her own imagination. Among other things, she sees visions of possible ways to end her life, can see historic versions of her surroundings, can envision people as their animal counterparts and even imagine a giant version of her own pet rat. She views herself as a bad person-a bad rat. This psychologists tell us, is often the case among those who, like Helen, have been damaged by the all too common nightmare of parental abuse. It is the exploration of this important problem that forms the foundation for this story.

    Like her namesake, Helen's finds pleasure in drawing-whether doodling on her pants or copying Beatrix's illustrations from her books. Helen finds hope in the parallels she sees between her life and Beatrix's. She wishes more than anything else to leave London for the Lake District village of Sawrey, where Beatrix herself lived much of her life. After some unfortunate incidents involving the police, this is exactly what Helen does. Escaping London for the peaceful Sawrey brings her some happiness, but it does not allow her to escape her past. Finally facing that past and her abuser becomes Helen's ultimate quest toward her happy ending.

    In The Tale of One Bad Rat, Bryan Talbot has created a modern version of a Beatrix Potter story, filled with colorful true to life characters and villains every bit in Mr. McGregor's league. The story also serves as a love letter to the English Lake District and its various villages-a land of lush green mountains that were a passion of Beatrix Potter's for much of her life and served as the setting for many of her tales. He has also created a work about the terribly important issue of sexual abuse-especially considering that government studies estimate that one in three girls will be molested before they're eighteen, and that statistic is based only on the few cases that are reported. And while Bad Rat is ultimately an uplifting tale of survival, it reminds us that not everyone lives happily ever after.

    If you have never experienced graphic storytelling before, we invite you to read The Tale of One Bad Rat or sample one of the other graphic novels now available at the Greenbrier County Public Library. 

    And if you need help, counseling or know someone who does, call the Child Help hotline at 1-800-422-4453.