Being a young teenager can be difficult. You’re at a place in your life where you don’t quite have the tools to navigate a challenging landscape when. All you want to be is normal and fit in. Instead of hiding perhaps it’s better to flaunt your gifts. If you can sing, join the glee club. And if you have a love for detective work and have a friend who shares your passion, then you may be like Dallas Cash and Inez Carrie.
In the graphic novel ‘Cash and Carrie’ you have two kids, going to middle school. They haven’t discovered newfound super powers. No one has the ability to read minds or fly. What these teens have in common is the love of a good mystery and helping people. In a series of chapters you see them attempting to solve cases using their brains. They ask the right questions and don’t take things at face value. Most of all they’re curious. Dallas (Cash) who loves technology and Inez (Carrie) who’s a sports enthusiast both take on cases that range from breaking up a cult to figuring out who would steal a goat. The approach is a breath of fresh air. Any child reading about these characters’ adventures could easily place themselves in their footsteps.
More importantly, the stories are enjoyable. There’s no heavy-laden moral, instead each tale is another average day in their lives and sometimes they learn something about themselves and at times they don’t. While investigating Cash and Carrie encounter narcoleptic witnesses, cultists who find clever ways for teenagers to behave and ghosts. Each chapter shows why they make a good team. They keep each other in check and vibe off each other’s intelligence. Essentially they’re good kids who do their homework, listen to their parents, do their chores and use their minds to fill the time. They’re role models by action, not because they can do extraordinary things, but because they choose to be productive people in the world. In “Now You See Me†Cash and Carrie get lost. They’re in the woods, it’s dark and all their technology is completely useless. They do meet someone who helps them but what happens next makes these teens realize that some things are better if they’re not known or can be explained. Even though they are fictionalized characters Cash and Carrie seem to negotiate their lives in a real world way. They don’t always have the answers and sometimes that has to be okay.
Dealing with adults, other teens and even younger children Cash and Carrie as a graphic novel is refreshing. There are some young people in the world who are having a hard enough time in their everyday lives. It’s nice to see characters who are diverse and realistically drawn as the protagonists in this narrative. You may have a Dallas or Inez in your world – someone who’s intuitive and has a quirky sense of humor. Perhaps that person could even be you.
Leave a Reply