The Nightingales puts a family friendship on the page in Emil Wilson's sketchbook style

A new eight-page excerpt offers a look inside Emil Wilson's already released graphic novel about a family and an unexpected guest in 1985 Oregon.

A new sample offers readers a way into Emil Wilson's The Nightingales before deciding whether the complete graphic novel is for them. Publishers Weekly posted an eight-page excerpt on 23 September, introducing high-school senior Lou, her family and the prospect of a guest arriving at their Oregon home. The book itself

is already out: Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster date the paper-over-board edition to 4 August 2026. A story built through drawings and fragments The publisher describes a work based on a true story. In spring 1985, Lou's father invites his struggling coworker Jim and Jim's two dogs to stay. Lou grows close to

Jim as tensions within the household sharpen. The book explores care, family and coming of age in the setting of the AIDS crisis; the excerpt shows the opening relationships rather than offering the whole account. Wilson's sketchbook presentation is central to that first look, letting portraits and fragments of

domestic life carry the story alongside the words. This is Wilson's first graphic novel. The publisher lists the US paper-over-board edition at 416 pages with ISBN 9781668217771 and separately offers a fixed-layout ebook. Readers seeking a particular format or territory should verify that edition before ordering. The

excerpt is a useful entry point, while this article makes no claim to be a full-book review. Headline image: official Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster cover artwork by Emil Wilson. Alt: sketched portraits, two pink dogs and a house above The Nightingales title.

Open the interactive version on https://mythscribe.cloud/blog/nightingales-emil-wilson-graphic-novel-excerpt-2026-09-25.