Bravo!

What a difference in our summer covers! I love this illustration...the wistful Kirk Cameron wannabe thinking of those summer girls he'll never meet, his smirking sister with the walkman (I'll bet she's listening to these guys), the font that ties in beautifully with the nautical theme...I'm sorry, I just can't find anything to criticize here. Richard Peck was a top notch YA author of his generation and this book is absolutely charming - so if you've got something snarky to say, bring it on!

The Summer I Learned about Dull Illustration

This post and the next one will feature summer in the title, as we all come closer to kissing these lazy, hazy days goodbye. This story is about a teenage girl growing up in the 1920's who wants to ditch the domestic arts and learn how to fly a plane. That's a pretty exciting premise, encompassing girl-power within the historical context, but this cover, eh, not so much. A static font, a stiff pose, and a drab composition would have me shelve this book, not savor it. The 1920's were roaring, not boring!

Courage, Dana!

You'll need it, trapped as you are on the cover of a YA novel (tho this one looks a bit Middle School) trying to look as small as possible while sitting in a graveyard. Good thing you have that bag of "Yum Yum Tasty Chips" as solace against the terror that will soon follow. 

Men are from Mars, Women are Different

Isn't this intriguing? A girl in hideous track pants hitched up in a seductive manner has rudely flopped down on the lap of a boy practicing his etudes. She has just told him something shocking! The boy looks positively befuddled and panicked at her disclosure. I could make many inappropriate comments here, but I'm too lazy right now, so I invite my readers (all 3 of you) to help me out on this one. Let's hear it people - how exactly is she different?

Composition 101

The Bennington Stitch is that stabbing pain you get in your side when posing for the artist of a YA book cover. Who hires these people? Who sees the preliminary sketches and says, "Yeah, go for it!" Pony girl is completely shutting us out with her pose, the woman to the right is exhibiting body language that says she's had enough of this crap, goddammit, and the guy appears to have stumbled into the picture by chance, only to have the artist say, "Dude, ever think about modeling?" To fully complete this fine example of what every YA illustration needs, the artist has graced us with a rather exaggerated rendering of college architecture.

Psycho Killer Qu'est-ce que c'est?

That's right, don't look in her eyes - just keep carrying her on your back for all of eternity to avoid her demonic gaze. Frankly, I don't know what this book could possibly be about. It has one of the most awkwardly composed covers I've ever seen. The toddler's arms seem freakishly long. And is it a boy giving the piggyback ride or a girl with a sassy Dorothy Hamill do? And what could possibly be in the brown paper bag? Answers, people! Clumsy as the drawing is, I find myself intrigued, so onward to the description... 

...."Jason was twelve when his psychotic mother abandoned him and his 15-month old brother Chad."

But of course - what's a YA novel without a psychotic mother?

A String of Cheese

I'll get to the baby in a moment, but first let's discuss the hair. This is a style more suited to a 6-year-old than a teen. Where are the feathered wings? What self-repecting girl would style her hair like this in 1982? Maybe she's an android, and her makers didn't have the latest catalogue from Hot Cuts. That would also explain her cool detachment and the baby's look of sheer terror. Babies know. Or maybe I've just been watching too much Battlestar Galactica these days. Thankfully, this cover hasn't let me down completely - once again we are revisited by that staple of YA book cover illustration - the freaky floating head of an elderly woman.