The Talented Ribkins

A Novel

By: Ladee Hubbard

Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly

At 72, Johnny Ribkins shouldn't have such problems: he's got one week to come up with the money he stole from his mobster boss or it's curtains.

What may or may not be useful to Johnny as he flees is that he comes from an African American family that has been gifted with superpowers that are a bit, well, odd. Okay, very odd. For example, Johnny's father could see colors no one else could see. His brother could scale perfectly flat walls. His cousin belches fire. And Johnny himself can make precise maps of any space you name, whether he's been there or not.

In the old days, the Ribkins family tried to apply their gifts to the civil rights effort, calling themselves the Justice Committee. But when their, eh, superpowers proved insufficient, the group fell apart. Out of frustration, Johnny and his brother used their talents to stage a series of burglaries, each more daring than the last.

Fast forward a couple of decades and Johnny's in a race against the clock to dig up loot he's stashed all over Florida. His brother is gone, but he has an unexpected sidekick: his brother's daughter, Eloise, who has a special superpower of her own.

Inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois' famous essay "The Talented Tenth" and fueled by Ladee Hubbard's marvelously original imagination, The Talented Ribkins is a big-hearted debut novel about race, class, politics, and the unique gifts that, while they may cause some problems from time to time, bind a family together.

©2017 Ladee Hubbard (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wholesome and hood

wholesome and hood all at the same time! And a really awesome narrator. Funny and sad. This story has it all. Great read.

Great time reading this book

A wonderful book for the whole family. We listened to it on a road trip.

Full marks!

This is available credit-free but actually wished i'd paid for it or knew about it beforehand and I would've bought the physical book. This was a wonderful blend of story, lesson, character(s), perspective, hope and family with a dash of the magic. Self-esteem, self-respect and a vision for the future that's often clouded by outside forces and internal struggles but always possible if you help others and, just as importantly, allow others to help you. Excellent narration. Would make a great TV series in the right hands. A great read/ listen for those wanting to discover new (to them) voices, writers of color and literally anyone whose individuality/talents has been used by others (or even themselves!) to exclude them from the quality of life and basic respect they deserve. Her latest novel, The Rib King (!) is set to be published in Jan 2021 (hopefully not the only positive event to look forward to in January).

Multi-gen'l family drama w/ light superhero aspect

Easy to listen to with excellent narration, and overall an entertaining book. This is a multi-generational African-American family drama set across time, which has only a nominal amount of superhero elements to it. It could have been longer and delved into certain aspects more, but this just reflects how well the book spurred my interest in the characters. It would be a good book club pick.

loved this!

What a great story and a wonderful performance. This one will stay with me for a long while. Thank you.

4.5

This story feels like it is wandering but when you step back and look at the whole (map/story), it is beautiful. I loved Johnny's tale. I felt sorry for his niece for being bored to death riding around with some ancient man going back and forth digging up treasure. I do think she needed more in the book, but she is 13 dealing with an old man who has no experience with kids. It made sense to me on how that played into Johnny's narrative. I wanted to know more of Reg and Clyde's story (the only part I felt was unsatisfactorily concluded). Meeting The Justice Committee was wonderful and some of the cast felt like real fans who were influenced by their civil rights work. If you lose hope on the book, keep on going. It wraps up quite nicely. Only docking the half star because wandering and the need to view the book from Johnny's skill (fun unique take but took so late in the book to be satisfying I suppose.)

I love this book

This story was so unusual. I really wanted it to go on longer. Hope there is a sequel.

Slightly magical realism

Really enjoyed this quasi father-daughter story.
The underlying political story didn’t quite track. But it was a fun, well written narrative with vivid characters

great voice acting!

this is a wonderful story only made better by the voice acting. the narrator really brought the story and characters to life.

superheroes. Read

it was an enjoyable simple read. the creativity of the story was good and it was an rsdy read. Not
realistic in many ways, but author tried to develop some superheros.