Oops!...They Did It Again

Bloomsbury. Really? Again?

As if one cover featuring a white girl when the story was about a girl with dark skin wasn't bad enough. You had to go and whitewash the cover of Jaclyn Dolamore's Magic Under Glass.

I appreciate that you've done the right thing and responded to the public outcry* by ceasing to sell the book with the original cover, apologizing and creating a new cover. You did that last time, and it worked out well.

So next time, how about just doing the right thing the first time and creating a cover that reflects the story and the characters? And if you're queasy about putting a person of color on the cover, you could always take the easy way out and not put a person on the cover at all. Just stop it with the white girls on the cover of books about darker skinned girls. Ok?

I'm creating a "whitewashing" tag. Don't dare make me use it again.

...And Little, Brown, don't think you're not being watched. You are.

* Thanks to bookshelves of doom for rounding up all the posts!

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Little Victories

I am certainly not one for quotes, but...Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Perhaps that's a bit of a bold statement to make in relation to the announcement that Bloomsbury will be publishing Justine Larbalestier's book Liar with a new cover, but I think it's rather fitting, and I consider it a victory, albeit a small one, against racism*.

The original cover choice smacked of racism and served only to reinforce the idea that books with black people featured on the cover don't sell. The new cover is more than I think anyone could've asked for; they could've just gone with the Australian cover like Justine initially requested, but Bloomsbury when whole hog, and the cover will not only feature a photo of a girl who looks a LOT more like Micah (though I will say, not exactly her), but it will be in color!

Of course, the battle is only half-won...now everyone needs to go and buy it! Thankfully, it's an awesome novel, so getting it into bookstores and libraries shouldn't be a challenge - but it needs to sell and it needs to circulate. Making this happen is the responsibility of booksellers and librarians, who need to go forth and feature the novel in displays, booktalk it, handsell it, and do whatever it takes to get it into readers' hands.

* This whole controversy kinda reminded me of when Magic Johnson had to fight (and commit has own money) to get Starbucks to open a stores in black communities. When Starbucks was initially approached their response was "black people don't drink our coffee." Seriously? Maybe if you opened up a store in a black neighborhood, they would. And they did.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Micah is a liar.

But she's promised to tell the truth.

Her (secret) boyfriend was brutally murdered, and everyone is looking at her like she had something to do with it.

She didn't.

You can trust her.

Liar by Justine Larbarlestier

Bloomsbury

Coming in October 2009

Recommended For: High School

************************************************************

Um...WOWzers. This book was amazing! I picked up an ARC of Justine Larbalestier's Liar from the Bloomsbury booth at BEA back in May, after reading Carlie's review over at Librarilly Blonde, and I'm sure glad I did.

When I think of Justine Larbalestier, I think fairies, not psychological thrillers. Liar is so cleverly written that you don't realize what you're reading until you're halfway into the book, and then your mind is pounding and spinning you can't put the book down because if you do then you risk losing your total absorption and disbelief.

I don't want to say any more about the story though. I want you to read it for yourself. What I don't mind starting a conversation about is the cover. As you may have seen elsewhere on the interwebs, there's a bit of a controversy over the American cover* of Liar (shown at the top of this post). The cover itself is really eye catching. The dark, blunt bangs against the pale skin, wide eyes and covered mouth of the model definitely pique the reader's interest. So what's the problem?

Micah's character is black. Within the first few pages she describes herself as being of mixed race, but looking and having more the skin tone of her black father than her white mother. And she keeps her hair really short, cropped close to her head. She passes for being a boy.

So what's up with the cover? Is it racism? Did the publishers not want to put a black girl on the cover for fear of not selling enough books to their white customers? Or is the cover supposed to be what Micah really looks like, and her description in the book is just another of her lies? Or is it just that the cover was so awesome, the publisher decided they just had to go with it, content of the novel be damned.

What do you think?

* I personally like the Australian cover better.