The Talk

Winner of the NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Graphic NovelsWinner of an Alex Award from the American Library AssociationWinner of the Libby Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel of the YearFinalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in NonfictionNominated for an Eisner Award for Best Graphic MemoirNominated for an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic NovelNamed The Year''s Best Graphic Novel by Publishers WeeklyNamed one of Publishers Weekly''s Top Ten Best Books of 2023Named one of NPR''s Books We LoveNamed one of Kirkus'' Best 2023 BooksNamed one of the Washington Post''s 10 best graphic novels of 2023One of TIME Magazine''s Must-Read Books of the YearShortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction 2024Booklist Editors'' Choice: Graphic Novels, 2023New York Public Library''s Best New Comics of 2023 Top Ten PickChicago Public Library''s Best Books of 2023 Top Ten PickNamed one of School Library Journal''s Best Graphic Novels of 2023Named one of The Guardian''s Best Graphic Novels of 2023Darrin 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.