2018 was a pretty good year for Tillie Walden: Her graphic memoir Spinning, a stunning visual recounting of the years she spent training as an ice skater, won the prestigious Eisner Award, and her most recent work, On a Sunbeam, published to great acclaim. If anything, it cemented the young storyteller as among the most essential graphic novelists of her generation.
So EW is thrilled to offer an exclusive first look at what Walden has coming up next: Are You Listening? Due next fall, it’s described as “a heart-wrenching story of survival, a brutally honest depiction of a young woman trying to heal after a traumatic sexual assault.” The book will feature magical settings inspired by the great Hayao Miyazaki.
“I do know when I get it right, I know instantly,” Walden told EW back in 2017, in advance of Spinning‘s publication. “It’s like a smooth bolt of lightning. I can look at a scene and suddenly I think, ‘That’s what it felt like.’ And if I can stare at the image for a long time and continue to feel the emotion, ignoring the other panels, then I know I’ve really hit on something.”
Below, Walden has exclusively shared the Are You Listening? cover with EW, as well as a beautiful 10-page excerpt. Read on below. Are You Listening? publishes Sept. 10, 2019, and is available for pre-order.
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Excerpt from Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
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