One of the most simple examples, some of the special powers the Ribkins family members possess. Much of what happens in this novel could, on reflection, be interpreted as symbolism. I admire the creative ambition of Ladee Hubbard on display in The Talented Ribkins. Du Bois’s famous essay “ The Talented Tenth” and fuelled 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.įor sheer reading pleasure Ladee Hubbard’s original and wildly inventive novel is in a class by itself.” - Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize-winning author of The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Song of Solomonĭisclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. His brother is gone, but he has an unexpected sidekick: his brother’s daughter, Eloise, who has a special superpower of her own. Out of frustration Johnny and his brother used their talents to stage a series of burglaries, each more daring than the last.įast forward a couple decades and Johnny’s on a race against the clock to dig up loot he’s stashed all over Florida.

But when their, eh, superpowers proved insufficient, the group fell apart. In the old days, the Ribkins family tried to apply their gifts to the civil rights effort, calling themselves the Justice Committee. And Johnny himself can make precise maps of any space you name, whether he’s been there or not. His brother could scale perfectly flat walls. For example, Johnny’s father could see colors no one else could see.

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 super powers that are rather sad, but superpowers nonetheless. At seventy-two, 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 for Johnny.

The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard