Love that Book, Loathe that Cover

As we all know, critical interpretations of book jackets are entirely subjective. What I might like, you might find appalling. What I abhor, you might find sweet. That said, is there any feeling in the world quite as frustrating as reading a marvelous middle grade novel, only to discover that the book jacket doesn’t do it justice? Back when I worked for NYPL, a book of that sort might actually be more likely to end up on the annual 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list, if only because it would “need our help” to find its audience. Back when I ran a reading group for kids, I would sometimes play a game where I booktalked books in paper bags and then only took them out for checkout when the kids begged to read them. That’s an excellent way to move beyond out-of-date covers, by the way.

This year I’ve already seen a fair share of great books that are unduly burdened with unfortunate book jackets. Like I say, you might completely disagree that these are unfortunate, and that is fair. That is your opinion. It is wrong, but you are entitled to it all the same.

Onward!

To begin, I am just enamored of this book right now. Set in the early 70s, it’s the first middle grade novel I’ve ever encountered to contain casual Quakers. Which is to say, a Quaker family just living their lives in Canada. In the book, the family takes in a Texan draft dodger, and the daughter of the family comes to a series of personal revelations typical in a Bildungsroman. It’s funny and strange and probably the most clearly marked Middle School (not middle grade, not YA) novel I’ve seen in years. It also looks like this:

Baffling. Disregard it. It really is a delight of a book.

Now I haven’t read this next one, but a friend that I trust implicitly has assured me that it is nothing short of a delight. Here’s the publisher’s description:

“Nick wants to change his life. For twelve whole years, he’s done what his hard-working, immigrant parents want him to do. Now he’s looking for his own American dream and he thinks he’s found it. The local baseball team is having a batboy contest. Nick’s goal—to be a Mudpuppy for a day! But the contest is on a Saturday—the day Nick has to work in his father’s shop. There’s one other tiny—well, not so tiny—problem. A 2,000-pound rhinoceros named Tank. Nick and his friends play ball right in the city zoo—and Tank lives just beyond the right field fence. Nick’s experience getting the ball out of Tank’s pen has left him frozen with fear whenever a fly ball comes his way. How’s a lousy fielder going to win the contest? One thing Nick knows how to do is work hard, and he practices every day with his best friend, Ace, and a new girl named Penny, who has an impressive throwing arm! But that’s not enough—to get to the contest, Nick resorts to a plan that has him lying to his parents and blackmailing his uncle. All while dodging the school bully, who’s determined to win even by playing dirty.”

So far so good. Now here’s the cover:

Considering the success of books by Carl Hiaasen and Stuart Gibbs, I understand the inclination to place the rhino front and center. It may even be that kids find this image charming and grab the title with both hands. That said, it’s an awfully cartoonish rhino. I don’t know that I would have thought to pick it up without my friend’s urging. I dunno. What do you guys think? Does it pass muster?

Now think of a book that challenges a sexist policy decision, is set in the 1950s, and that policy is still strongly in force today. If you were ever a fan of The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages, then you are in for a treat. The third book in that series has come out and it’s all about a girl who wants to pitch for the major leagues. An exhaustive accounting of female baseball players, it’s intriguing, engaging, and fun, while also being chock full o’ facts. The cover looks like this:

If you squint just right, you may even be able to make out the protagonist.

UPDATE: I think we have an explanation at hand for this cover. They’re redesigning the whole Green Glass Sea series. Behold, the newly created Green Glass Sea cover:

Okay, see THAT cover I like a lot. Definitely cute. But here’s the weird thing – they’re only redesigning the first and the third book in the series like this. Apparently White Sands, Red Menace didn’t make the cut. Hunhuna?

None of these jackets are horrendous or anything. They just make me feel like their publishers didn’t care enough to try to sell them properly to child readers. So let us do them all a favor. Read ’em and recommend ’em to a kid. They’re more than just a pretty face. They’re great books.

Any other jackets out this year you wish were different in some way?

Filed under: Best Books