I love looking at what publishers choose to do with recovering “classic” YA titles. They take a book that’s done well and still in print and give it a new look, hoping to not only keep it relevant to today’s aesthetics but also in hopes of reaching new readers. Here are a few repackaged titles and for the most part, I really like them (even if some fall into the trappings that bother me).
The top two are the first two books in Jodi Lynn Anderson’s Peaches series and were originally published in 2006 (did you know those were Alloy properties? I just learned that). The bottom are the recovered releases. While both the redesigned covers are half girls, I think they are pretty good. They’re very contemporary and I can see teen girls looking for contemporary fiction picking these up without any question as to what kind of story they’ll get. I don’t mind the original covers, actually, but I think they might look a little young and more middle grade than they do YA. I prefer the title and author treatment on the redesign to the original because I think they stand out a little more/look a little more modern. The redesigned covers actually remind me a lot of the repackaged cover for Laurie Halse Anderson’s Catalyst.
I don’t mind the original cover, especially because I think the fact it’s illustrated is unique. That said, I really like the redesigned cover and think it will again stand out to teens. I love how the math element is woven into the image and the girl looks sad without necessarily looking weak (she’s not in the story). I appreciate how the new cover still has the orange hue to it, like the original one. As far as the title and author font, the new one works and I think it’s interesting (and good!) that they’re doing the author name placement in the same way they’re doing it for all of Sarah Dessen’s books.
I dig these redesigns for Caroline B Cooney’s Janie series a LOT. I remember reading all of these books repeatedly when I was younger, and I think this new look will get new readers to pick them up. I’ve done a cover retrospective on Cooney before (and apologies — some of the images need to be resaved/uploaded). The image on the left is one of the original covers while the one on the right is the new design.
I love how it’s gotten a new creepy vibe. This feels so much more contemporary than the prior cover. It’s simple and easy on the eyes and I think that’s what makes it so appealing.
The mouth popping out of the radio? That could give me a nightmare or two. I guess the one thing that I don’t think works great on the redesigns of these books is the font and size of the title. Seems like it could be bolder or easier to read if it were larger. But the use of a single image in the center of an otherwise black cover just works for me. It has impact.
There are the other two in the series. I appreciate how all of the recovered books still have something reminiscent of the originals to them, too. All of the Cooney recovers are what the current ebook covers are, and they’ll be available in paperback next month.
Do you prefer the older covers? The newer ones? Can you think of any other books that have been out for a couple or more years that have been recovered?