I Was a Rat!...or the Scarlet Slippers — Philip Pullman

"I WAS A RAT!"

So insists a scruffy boy named Roger. Maybe it's true. But what is he now? A terrifying monster running wild in the sewers? The Daily Scourge is sure of it. A victim of "Rodent Delusion"? The hospital nurse says yes. A lucrative fairground freak? He is to M Tapscrew. A champion wriggler and a budding thief? That's what Billy thinks.
Or just an ordinary small boy, though a little ratty in his habits? Only three people believe this version of the story. And it may take a royal intervention--and a bit of magic--to convince the rest of the world....