The Talk [Paperback]

Named one ofPublishers Weekly's Top Ten Best Books of 2023
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction 2024
New York Public Library's Best New Comics of 2023 Top Ten Pick

Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldnt 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 Angelesand finding a voice through cartooningBell 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.

Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldnt have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as less innocent than they really are. Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped moments from childhood to adulthood.Darrin Bell, recipient of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, the 2016 Berryman Award for Editorial Cartooning, the 2015 RFK Award for Editorial Cartooning, and UC Berkeleys 2015 Daily Californian Alumni of the Year Award, began his career in 1995 at the age of twenty. While serving as theDaily Californians staff cartoonist, he began freelancing for the Opinion pages of theLos Angeles Times,San Francisco Chronicle, andOakland Tl+