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The Talk
- Narrated by: Brittany Bradford, Darrin Bell, Emyree Zazu Bell, William DeMerrit
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
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The Talk
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Publisher's Summary
Winner of the NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Graphic Novels
Winner of the Libby Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel of the Year
Named The Year's Best Graphic Novel by Publishers Weekly
Named one of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten Best Books of 2023
Named one of NPR's Books We Love
Named one of Kirkus' Best 2023 Books
Named one of the Washington Post's 10 best graphic novels of 2023
One of TIME Magazine's Must-Read Books of the Year
Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction 2024
Booklist Editors' Choice: Graphic Novels, 2023
New York Public Library's Best New Comics of 2023 Top Ten Pick
Chicago Public Library's Best Books of 2023 Top Ten Pick
Named one of School Library Journal's Best Graphic Novels of 2023
Named one of The Guardian's Best Graphic Novels of 2023
Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn’t have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are.
Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. While coming of age in Los Angeles—and finding a voice through cartooning—Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and police officers and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans and showcasing revealing insights and cartoons along the way, he brings us up to the moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And now Bell must decide whether he and his own six-year-old son are ready to have The Talk.
What the critics say
Winner of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation Award
ALA Alex Award Winner (2024)
New York Times, “14 Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer“
Los Angeles Times, “10 June books for your reading list“
The Root, “A Supersized List of June 2023 Books By Black Authors We Can't Wait to Read“
St. Louis Post Dispatch, “40 New Titles to Make Summer Vacation More Fun“
In Between Drafts, “Best New Books of June“
The Messenger, “Here Are the Best Books to Read This June“
Shelf Awareness, “10 Best Nonfiction Adult Titles“
Publishers Lunch, “The Best of the Best Books of 2023“
Minneapolis Star Tribune, “40 Great Books to Get You or Someone on Your Gift List Through the Winter“
"The book is visually stunning, and propulsive, with an absorbing narrative voice. Divided into almost two dozen chapters, its drawings fluctuate from the whimsically cartoonish to the delightfully painterly. . . . Reminiscent of longform comics memoirs such as Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, stories about young writers and artists finding their ways through both personal and structural hardships and strife, this epic portrait of an artist is a masterpiece. Like the effects of an unduly perceptive editorial cartoon, The Talk makes a penetrative, and lasting, impression.” —NPR
“Bell’s striking debut graphic memoir, utilizes wit and emotional openness to chronicle the ways in which racism has shaped his life, from a police officer terrorizing a young Bell over his green water gun to protests in 2020 over the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.” —BookPage, starred review
“A moving portrait . . . funny and touching, intellectually and emotionally stimulating. There’s pride and prejudice, family drama, and a love story. I loved this book. You will too.” ―Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling