Rouge tagada
(Tagada red) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
When Alex is thirteen, she meets Layla, a new girl at school. She is fascinated by her new classmate but does not really know how to talk to her. The two girls gradually bond over their shared love of theatre. Alex falls in love with Layla, but is also pleased to have found a best friend who gets her to share her feelings. The two are inseparable, until Layla meets a boy. Alex feels abandoned, betrayed, and alone. Until, one day, Layla asks her for kissing lessons…
Edited by: Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
Comment:
A touching graphic novel in a warm, colourful style, all about falling in love. The teenage experience is perfectly captured as the characters wonder about their sexual orientation and discover their own sexuality. The narrative is divided into chapters following the progression of Alex and Layla’s relationship. The author plays an interesting, witty intertextual game with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the end of year show. The play’s themes of cross-dressing and misunderstandings feature in several scenes where a woman dressed as a man has to seduce another woman on a man’s behalf. The gender-bending confusion represents Alex’s inner turmoil and sows discord in her relationship with Layla, who does not return her feelings. The book does not have a happy end, but the charming love story does leave the reader with the impression of a sweet story with a light touch.