Boots Quadruplet

Take a look at this amazing set of double dips, sent to me by Kerry from New Zealand (Thanks, Kerry!), a reader of this blog. The photographer who took this photo has apparently captured an iconic war image. What’s funny about the use of this image here, is that they look like World War I or II boots, and two of these books cover more recent wars. All except the Morpurgo book are published by the adult market. At least two of the three are recommended for teens.

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The cover of War: Stories of Conflict edited by Michael Morpurgo (from UK, apparently not in the US, Macmillan 2005) is a pretty straightforward use of the image. In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason (HarperCollins 2005, c1985), incidentally popular required reading for high school students, is a clear use of the Rule of Three. Hiroshima Joe by Martin Booth (Macmillan: Picador 2003, c1985) changes up the color of the photo by monochromizing it. And Beaufort by Ron Leshem (Delacorte 2008) intensifies the contrast and completely turns it upside-down. All except Hiroshima Joe, stay fairly true to the (probably) original colors in the photo.
Two of these are under the Macmillan umbrella, though one from the adult and one from the children’s market. And one available in the UK, but not in the US. So here’s the question. Is the use of an image tracked at least within a publisher and it’s houses? If so, are there rules of use?

War: Explores many aspects of war, featuring conflicts from the Crusades to 1970’s Beirut and the Falklands. (South Lanarkshire Council). Age: Teens. Reviews 1.
In Country: Vietnam War. Adult book, recommended for YAs by SLJ. Reviews 1, 2,. Censorship Attempt: Book Controversy at Delphi High (defeated).
Hiroshima Joe: World War II. Adult.
Beaufort: Set in Lebanon in 1999. Adult book, recommended for mature YAs by Booklist. Reviews 1, 2.

See No Evil

I noticed a run of new face covers where the eyes are blocked out with a graphic (a strip of paper,  the illusion of a torn out section, a color block) which contains the title of the book. I’d collected three and I was watching, waiting to see if another one would come up.

This morning I read Elizabeth Bird’s Fuse #8 post pointing out the new covers for Julie Anne Peters Snob Squad books. I clicked on her link to Peters’ MySpace page and found a fourth. You may have noticed I like to have a nice block of four for my posts ;-)

This one’s a little older – King of the Lost and Found by John Lekich (Raincoast 2007). But the remaining three book jackets are new Band Geeked Out by Josie Bloss (Flux 2009), Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy (Harcourt 2009, c2007) and A Snitch in the Snob Squad by Julie Anne Peters (Little Brown 2010, c2001)

When you consider how many ways a close up photo can be manipulated to give a particular impression, this is surely one you’d think of.  And when you look at the other new Snob Squad covers, you see two more to watch for: Speak no evil and…. smell no evil?

King of the Lost and Found: Ages 12+. Reviews 1, 2, 3.
Band Geeked Out: As her senior year of high school nears the end, marching band member Ellie finds herself doubting her plans for the future when she meets a fascinating and sophisticated girl while taking a tour of a college out of state. Ages 12+. Reviews 1.
Looking for JJ: Seventeen-year-old Alice, released from prison with a new identity after serving six years for murdering a child, tries to keep her anonymity from the British tabloids, while haunted by memories of her past trauma. Ages 12+. Reviews 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Snitch in the Snob Squad: Twelve-year-old Jenny and the other members of the Snob Squad suspect that one of them, or someone close to them, is behind the thefts at their school. Ages 8-12.

Off Topic: Stray Findings

I’m going to break a promise to myself, and write a post that’s a little off the topic of book covers.
Blog stats can be pretty interesting. Ferreting out the reasons why a post gets a lot of non-syndicated traffic, for instance.
My top post of all time (and I’ve been doing this for a year and a half now) is “The Period Dress Girls of 2009.”
So,  I wonder.  Why? Why the extra interest in this topic?? I find the best clue in the words used to find my blog: “period of girls,” “period for girls,” “girls in period.”
I imagine 10 year old boys puzzling over what this period thing is all about with girls. They used to have different sources, like hidden corners in libraries. But now they have the internet. And I wonder, as they sift through things like posts on book covers, how long it takes them to actually find the info they’re looking for…

Irresistible: Another Double Dip

Can I resist pointing out a double dip?

Nope. For me, it never gets too old to point out!

Flirting with Boys by Hailey Abbott (HarperTeen 2009): Cover design by Jennifer Rozbruch. Photo by Getty Images.
The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti (Simon & Schuster 2009).

Rule of Three

This arrangement may be  a design technique rather than a trend. The space here, is divided in three – usually unequal – parts.
This applies to all of the book jackets below, as well as many others. When you start looking for it, you find it everywhere.
In the examples here, the three segments fit into  a pattern. Segment 1: Some portion of a face, usually including, or highlighting the eyes and usually at the top. Segment 2: A strip for type (either outlined, or not) and Segment 3: A landscape or roomscape or other depiction of space.
This group of three, The Silent Room by Walter Sorrells (Dutton 2006), I’ll Sing You One-O by Nan Gregory (Clarion 2006) and The Black Canary by Jane Louise Curry (McElderry 2005) fit that pattern precisely.

Less commonly, segments bleed into each other,  with the title text providing the distraction from the two different photos fading into each other. The three below. Plenty Porter by Brandon Noonan (Amulet 2006), Night Fires by George Edward Stanley (Aladdin 2009), Unclaimed Heart by Kim Wilkins (Razorbill 2009) fit that category.

Rarely is the face at the bottom in this kind of cover (I searched!). And of course the 3- sectioned book jacket doesn’t always include a face. The Freedom of Jenny by Julie Burtinshaw (Raincoast 2005), Almost Home by Jessica Blank (Hyperion 2007),  Rooftop by Paul Volponi (Viking 2006) have the triple segmented jackets, the latter two without the face element.

Sometimes this works, in my opinion, and sometimes not. I think Night Fires is a really strange bleed. The images on it, and also on Unclaimed Heart seem oddly juxtaposed. And the decapitated look of the people on Almost Home is a little unsettling. Maybe that’s by design…

Silent Room: Suffering his stepfather’s physical and emotional abuse, ninth-grader Oz is sent to the Briarwood School where his mistreatment continues at the hands of abusive and criminal school officials. Age 12+. Reviews: 1, 2.
I’ll Sing You: Reunited with her long-lost twin brother, twelve-year-old Gemma constantly tests the boundaries of acceptable behavior while relying on angels to help her connect with her new family. Age 8-12 . Reviews: 1.
Black Canary: As the child of two musicians, twelve-year-old James has no interest in music until he discovers a portal to seventeenth-century London in his uncle’s basement, and finds himself in a situation where his beautiful voice and the fact that he is biracial might serve him well. Age 10-14. Reviews: 1.
Plenty Porter: As she turns thirteen in the early 1950s, Plenty Porter–the youngest of eleven children–keeps some secrets and uncovers some dangerous ones as she tries to understand her place in her family, town, and the world. Age 12+. Reviews: 1.
Night Fires: In 1922, thirteen-year-old Woodrow Harper and his recently-widowed mother move to his father’s childhood home in Lawton, Oklahoma, where he is torn between the “right people” of the Ku Klux Klan and those who encourage him to follow the path of his “nigra-loving” father. Age 8-12.
Unclaimed Heart: In 1799, having stowed away on her father’s ship sailing from Dartmouth, England, to Ceylon in search of her long-lost mother, seventeen-year-old Constance Blackchurch falls in love with a nineteen-year old French orphan they rescue from a nefarious pearl dealer. Age 12+ . Reviews: 1, 2.
Freedom of Jenny: The story revolves around Jenny Estes, who is born into slavery in the 1840s in Missouri. Through Jenny and her family, Burtinshaw tells the true story of the immigration of a small group of African Americans from the banks of the Mississippi to Saltspring Island, British Columbia, in the 1860s. (Publisher) Age 11-14. Reviews: 1, 2.
Almost Home: With rare candor and searing prose, the author introduces seven unforgettable teens living on the streets of Los Angeles, who form their own dysfunctional family, complete with love, belonging, abuse, and betrayal. (Publisher) Age 13+. Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Rooftop: Still reeling from seeing police shoot his unarmed cousin to death on the roof of a New York City housing project, seventeen-year-old Clay is dragged into the whirlwind of political manipulation that follows. Age 12+.

Catching Fire – on Fire!

I wanted to say Catching Fire Catches Fire. But Publisher’s Weekly already said that…
At BEA Friday, the ARCs were hard to come by, but I was lucky. I’m taking a break at the moment, a third of the way through this book which has, so far proved worth the buzz… YES, you gotta read this! (Yesterday!)
My purpose here, however, is to talk about the covers, not what’s between the them.

I loved the cover of Suzanne Collins‘ The Hunger Games (Scholastic 2008). It isn’t drastically different from the crowd, but it embraces a few of the conventions I’ve noted. Most particularly what I pointed out a couple of months ago in my post about what Liza Gilbert’s teens liked. “A real focal object, and a mysterious atmospheric quality. Mostly good type treatment… Good hooks.”
The Hunger Games: Focal object?  CHECK. Mysterious atmospheric quality? You could say that. CHECK. Type treatment? Yeah – looks very futuristic. Probably a good hook. CHECK.
The way I interpret book #1’s jacket, which is to say, I think it fits the story (another CHECK), is this: There’s darkness in the land. Each circle marks one of the 12 districts (here linked, but with walls? blocking the links?). And there’s hope. A golden mockingjay pin marks the spot.
And here’s Catching Fire (Scholastic, 9/2009). Some brightness radiating out, with more light coming from District 12. No walls. The arrow has disappeared. Does that mean something?
And… what’s that? The mockingjay has come alive! Here’s another assessment of the symbols.
I love this cover, and I hope Scholastic sticks with this for the paperbacks (I beg you, Scholastic, do not put people on the paperback issues). I strongly dislike the UK (Australian?) Hunger Games cover. I’m not at all convinced that making the book look like 90% of the other books out there will hook readers. Here’s hoping that they stick with BUZZ and a great matching cover for the third book.
If you’re not as convinced as I am that this was a good choice, what do you think of the UK cover of Catching Fire? And do they really need Stephenie Meyer’s name to boost sales? (Caveat: Amazon UK shows the U.S. cover so I’m not sure this is what they’re really releasing?).

Don’t miss this article at Publisher’s Weekly that flashes Hunger Games book jackets from around the globe.

Hunger Games: In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place. (CIP) Ages 12+. Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Trailer. Videos of Collins talking about the Hunger Games.
Catching Fire: By winning the annual Hunger Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion. (CIP) Ages 12+. Reviews: 1, 2.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Here is a set of book covers that do not all look alike, but share a similar aspect. Clearly conveyed is the concept of one in a crowd, someone who stands out, outsider-ness. What buttons, or hearts (candy?) or butterflies have to do with any of it isn’t clear from the CIP summaries. But the outsider concept is clear. The cover for The Opposite of Love by Helen Benedict (Viking 2007) grabbed me the first time I saw it and has always sat in my queue waiting for others to join it. Slowly I’ve gathered enough to share – L. A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (HarperCollins 2009), When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright (Simon & Schuster 2008) and Fearless by Tim Lott (Candlewick 2007).

Opposite of Love: When seventeen-year-old Madge, a bi-racial girl living in a small Pennsylvania town populated by bigots, decides to change the world for the better, she starts by “adopting” a four-year-old boy she finds abandoned in New York City. Ages . Reviews: 1,
L.A. Candy: When nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts is cast in a new reality show, she discovers that the fame and fortune of her new life come at a high price to herself and her friendships.
When the Black Girl Sings: Adopted by white parents and sent to an exclusive Connecticut girls’ school where she is the only black student, fourteen-year-old Lahni Schuler feels like an outcast, particularly when her parents separate, but after attending a local church where she hears gospel music for the first time, she finds her voice.
Fearless: In the future, girls labeled “juvies” or “mindcrips” are taken from their families and sent to the prison-like City Community Faith School, but Little Fearless decides to break out, and embarks on a dangerous mission to try to free the girls from their miserable captivity.

Beware of Hands With Apples!

I’ve been hesitant to post a “double dip” that was brought to my attention by Jay Asher (though I thank him for sending it!). It feels a bit like cheating to put this book (you know the one) in a post. I love to see my stats shoot up, but HONESTLY – if you know what I mean.
So here’s  The-Book-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, and a book that’s not YA, Words to Live By by C. S. Lewis (Zondervan 2007). It’s not the same photo, but the coloring is similar. The crop is a little different. But I can’t imagine who would walk by this face-out on a shelf and not do a double-take. The image seems pertinent for the subject. You wonder how deliberately made this decision was. The designer can’t not have seen the other book…

And while I’m at it, there’s another similar situation that’s been sitting around in my queue. The most recent book in The-Series-That-Must-Not-Be-Named is slightly different in lighting and focus. Both it and  Taken by Edward Bloor (Knopf 2007)  are black, white and red, though subjectwise they fit into different categories – Taken in the category of Crime/Murder, and the other book in the Horror (kinda?) category. In this case, the other guy had it first!

Not surprisingly, the paperback edition of Taken, due out in December, has a completely different cover. Hmmm. I wonder why? ;-)

Taken: In 2035 kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when thirteen-year-old Charity M. is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems.

Framed!

I think that a frame is a common enough item on book covers. Yet, using a frame within a frame can be very effective, and without seeming overdone. Each of these covers uses the frame a little differently. Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine (HarperTeen 2008) – a mirror? or an empty frame that makes the person behind it invisible? ; Matisse on the Loose by Georgia Bragg (Delacorte 2009), tipped and making it’s way out of the picture ; Heartsinger by Karlijn Stoffels (Arthur A. Levine, 2009) – interesting use of the cropped face ; and Vidalia in Paris by Sasha Watson (Viking 2008) – traditional frame and frame for the title.
An interesting commonality here is that these novels take place in coutries other than the U.S. (not sure about the Matisse book). And it may not surprise anyone that some of them have to do with art, artists, or art museums.

UPDATE (May 16, 2009): Well this is interesting. I just happened across this book, an April release from Canadian publisher Key Porter:

Me, the Missing: When a series of chance events leaves him in possession of an urn with ashes, sixteen-year-old Londoner, Lucas Swain, becomes convinced that its occupant, Violet Park, is communicating with him, initiating a voyage of self-discovery that forces him to finally confront the events surrounding his father’s sudden disappearance. Age 14+. Reviews: 1, 2.
Matisse: An aspiring artist’s daily routine of being embarrassed by his eccentric family is interrupted when he finds himself in the middle of an art museum fiasco involving Matisse’s 1909 portrait of his son Pierre. Age 8-12.
Heartsinger: In this meditation on various kinds of love, Mee travels across the country to the court of the Princess Esperanza, singing the life stories of some of the people he meets. Age 12+. Reviews: 1, 2, 3.
Vidalia in Paris: Teenage Vidalia’s summer in Paris studying art settles into a stimulating and enjoyable routine until she becomes romantically involved with a mysterious young man who seems to have ties to an art-theft ring. Age 12+. Reviews: 1, 2, 3.

Expert Opinion Requested

When purchasing a classic title for my YA collection, I like to look at all the covers available and purchase the edition that I think will be most appealing to a teen who is forced or inclined to read that title. Sometimes (like on this one), I just can’t decide. It occurred to me that I could ask for the professional expertise out there.

The first cover here is on an edition that was first out in 1982. That would seem to date it, but it looks a lot like some of the covers that I’ve been seeing on teen titles lately – so I’m wondering if it would still work. The other is a brand new movie tie-in cover. Here’s the indecision part: I like the old cover much, much better. But I’m wondering if I should buy the other – even though it looks more targeted to adults (to me). Please vote in the comments, if you’re inclined, for which cover you think a teen would be most likely to choose.

Vote for #1 (the 1982 ed.) or #2 (the 2008 ed.), both Little, Brown. Thanks for your input!

UPDATE (6/1/2009): The book came today. Good choice everyone! Looks even better than its picture.