Talk (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Fran Colita, Alice Metsig, Lindsay Walsh (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–Closeted high schooler Kit Webster hopes to take a vacation from reality by accepting one of the leads in a school play called Talk. Opposite Kit is popular drama queen Lindsay Walsh, who falls for him while they're onstage and dumps her meathead boyfriend. He blames Kit and homophobic epithets ensue. At the same time, the town turns upside down over the play's strong content, and soon nearly everyone is in an uproar. Told in Kit's and Lindsay's alternating voices, and with portions of the script inserted throughout, this novel breaks no new ground literarily or thematically. Readers will find the uncertain chemistry between the protagonists intriguing, but the vague controversy surrounding the play and free-speech rallies quickly become didactic and tiresome. Koja's stream-of-conscious style enhances the story's sense of realism, but the characterizations seem flat and polarized compared to other straight/gay romantic muddles like Alex Sanchez's So Hard to Say (2004) or Ellen Wittlinger's Hard Love (1999, both S & S). Still, reluctant readers may be tempted enough by the volume's slim size and simplistic themes to see it through to the end.–Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. Other people may be surprised when Kit, who has never acted before, wins the lead in the high-school play. But he isn't. He knows the truth: he's been acting all his life, pretending to be straight. Things become increasingly complicated for the closeted teen when his difficult costar, Lindsay, falls in love with him, and their play, Talk, a hard-hitting drama about political repression, excites controversy and parental attempts at censorship. The action of this ambitious novel moves along briskly when it alternates between Kit and Lindsay's points of view, but it becomes message-driven when pages from the play are periodically included to reinforce the theme: that the self is revealed no matter what. Fortunately, Kit's true self is interesting and sympathetic enough to hold the reader's attention through the occasional didactic patches, and the author's nicely realized denouement is both life- and self-affirming. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (February 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374373825
• ISBN-13: 978-0374373825
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,758,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Koja's ninth book and eighth home run., April 12, 2005

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Kathe Koja, Talk (Frances Foster Books, 2005)

There are few writers on the planet today whose every new novel brings such pleasure as Kathe Koja. Talk, Koja's fourth novel for young adults and ninth overall, continues the trend.

Kit Webster is in high school, in the closet, and generally not the kind of guy you noticed when growing up. His best friend Carma convinces him to try out for the male lead in the school play, Talk, and he gets the part. He is quite surprised to find he has a real flair for acting, as is his female lead, Lindsay Walsh, the queen of the drama department. Instead of things going smoothly, of course, complications must arise, from Lindsay dumping her boyfriend to concerned parents protesting that the subject matter of the play is too controversial for young minds to handle.

While it's not of the same brilliance as her four mid-period novels (Skin, Strange Angels, Kink, and straydog), Talk delivers on many levels, as do almost all of Koja's novels (Bad Brains being the sole exception). Short, punchy, readable, and powerful. Some of the characters, especially the minor characters, fall into stereotype, but it's hard to avoid that when so many real gay-bashers try their best to emulate the stereotype. There's really no way around it. Kit and Lindsay are quite well-drawn, and they carry the story (told alternately in chapters narrated by each) wonderfully.

Another winner from the Koja stable. **** ½

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kathe Koja Captures Angst of Queer Youth in her Latest Novel, March 18, 2005

By	Robert McCabe "Rob McCabe" (Dearborn, Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

God I hated high school!!! And even though I never went to a large one like the one described by Kathe Koja in her latest Young Adult novel, I experienced many of the same problems of inner struggle which her protagonist Kit experiences as he struggles with being Gay in a not-so-welcoming world.

I have been a fan of Kathe Koja's for many years, since I read her first horror novel, "The Cypher." In "Talk," Ms. Koja captures the modern-day angst of being a teenager in today's world. Her dialogue is realistic, funny and at times, touching. The story concerns a young man named Kit who has been chosen to play the lead role in what many people in his community consider a controversial play titled, "Talk." Not only is our hero going through the everday strugle of being a teenager, he's also struggling with his sexuality. He's Gay. The only person who knows his "secret" is his best friend, Carma. Their relationship is very similar to my relationship while in high school with my best friend who turned out to be a Lesbian. The only reason I bring up my background is to explain how I wish I had had such a wonderful book to speak to me while going through high school. The charaqcters in "Talk" are living breathing human beings. The dialogue is fresh and exciting and what makes this book really exciting and fresh is how it is set up. The book features three narrators, Kit, Carma and Lindsay (a young girl who is featured opposite Kit in the play and who is secretly in love with him). Each chapter features the inner monologues or dialogue from that person's point of view. Interspersed are scenes from the play, "Talk" which is used to highlight the action within the novel.

The writing is fresh and exciting and Koja has captured the real life of being a teenager in today's hostile America. Especially a Gay teenager. This book is highly recommended for anyone who is openly Gay, having to struggle with the "secret" of being Gay, or anyone who has a family member who is Gay or knows someone who is Gay, therapists working with Youth, and finally, I would definitely recommend this book to teachers who deal with vicious teasing and harassment many encounter in schools today. It is only by being aware of a problem that we can come to correct it. I am thankful that Kathe Koja is there offering some balm in a very hurtful and hateful world when it comes to teens sturggling with GLBT issues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Talk" By Kathe koja, November 6, 2007

By	Umi "Kiki" (Santa Fe) - See all my reviews

Talk by Kathe Koja is a really great book. It isn't the best book I have ever read but I still really liked it. It has 3 main characters who are 1.) Kit. Kit is kind of quiet and he doesn't have many friends. He is secretly in love with one of the students at his school that is very involved in acting and drama. Kit decides to try out for the school play and discovers that he really likes accting.
2.) Carma. Carma is Kit's best friend. She is very supportive of him when she finds out who he likes and she tries to get them to talk. She gets mad at Kit when he starts hanging out with Lindsay who is popular and Carma doesn't like her.
3.) Lindsay. Lindsay at first thinks that Kit is a wimp but then she discovers that she likes him. Lindsay has had many boyferiends but her current one is sort of a jerk and gets even madder when he discovers that she likes Kit. She and Kit get the two leading roles in the play and get to know each other really well.
There are many surprising things that happen in this book and I really liked it. What really stood out for me in this book was how it was all about discovering new friendships and losing old ones and the way all the characters have really unique personalities.
I thought that it could be a litle more detailed in some parts but all in all it was a great book!