"The Talk" By Darrin Bell

"The Talk" By Darrin Bell

Originally Published June, 2023

Pages: 352

Awards: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award

Summary: The Talk is a graphic novel in which Darrin Bell captures the events of his life. He captures his experience as a biracial person and how he was treated throughout his childhood in the 80's and 90's through his adult life (present day). He tackles the topics of racism both subtle and overt that are experienced throughout his life as well as various other emotions he experienced growing up as a black person. 

This book was important for me to read for two reasons. One, our world is ever increasingly moving towards visual mediums. Movies, TV, Videos and Graphic novels have become preferred means of consuming information and media for many people out there. I want to make sure that students understand how to interpret and make sense of those visual mediums that they are being exposed to. Secondly, this book addresses the prejudice and racism that still permeate our societal systems. Bell takes care to show his experience as a person of color for what it is. undoctored and unfiltered. I wanted to read this not only to read about the experience but to see the experience and discover the power of images in novels.

Teaching and Content Considerations: 

This graphic novel I believe could be used in any context (small group, whole group, or individual) but where I see the greatest application for this book (as well as all graphic novels) is in a book club/small group application. Graphic novels have the amazing ability to present/convey tough subject matter in digestible and easily read formats. The speed at which graphic novels can be read can help students that need more support in reading achieve success much quicker. I see this novel being used as part of a synthesis project where students read multiple graphic novels and word to determine different themes and meanings that are presented in the images and in the text/words that are used. This book in particular covers ethics, symbolism and themes very well and would be a great exercise for students to work in seeing similarities and differences between graphic novels and communicate and write to convey their understanding.

The recommended age for this book is about a 10th grade level. There are some mature subjects and themes that might be difficult for younger audiences. However, I believe that any student entering puberty would be equipped to read and make sense of this graphic novel. The author covers many of the topics that arise for young adults but most likely would appeal to young men. While I could see anybody relating to the author in that sense he touches primarily on issues that affect BIPOC audiences. 

 The first excerpt I chose for students to look at is on page 30-32 (digital edition) Where a young Darrin is seen talking with his mother. His mother says “that’s whats going to keep you alive”. This passage I think thematically represents the struggle that Darrin faces as a black man whenever he encounters people and will be important for students to recognize and make sense of if they read the rest of the book.

The second excerpt that I think would be good for students to do a close examination of is on p. 157 (Digital edition) where his teacher remarks to him that he is "One of the good ones" It is important to recognize the power of words and how they can be damaging even though well intentioned. This is a very important moment to recognize that racism/prejudice can be subversive and that all people need to recognize how we treat people.

The third excerpt is from the end of the novel on p. 318. Darrin makes many references to power tools and how different objects symbolize different things based on the person. It is important to recognize the symbols that Bell uses here and how we associate meaning with different things.

Overall, this would be a great novel to teach to audiences that are beginning to discover their own values and ethics systems and learn about other peoples perspectives.