STACKED

books

Whatcha Hiding?

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There have to be a billion covers like this, particularly recently. Here are three that stand out to me without even having to try looking hard:


Sovay by Celia Rees was published October 2008 by Bloomsbury USA. She’s getting ready to cover her mouth with her collar (a turtleneck shirt collar or a scarf – it’s not entirely clear to me).


Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph was published May 2009 by MTV publishers. Clearly, she’s covering her mouth with her shirt collar in this one. And perhaps this is the same model from another angle — you know how if you go into stock images, many offer similar images, this seems like one of those “similar images”:


At Face Value by Emily Franklin was published in October 2008 by Flux.

Know of any others? I like the last cover best, probably, but all of them follow the theme. At least these are a little more memorable on their own.

Double Take, Part VII

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Here’s another double take! No comments on either one, since the similarities should be fairly obvious.

Published first:

Deb Caletti’s The Secret Life of Prince Charming was published April 7, 2009 by Simon Pulse.

And a mere three weeks later?

HarperTeen published Hailey Abbott’s Flirting with Boys on April 28, 2009.

Same couple, same pants, same posture. The only difference is the yellow topper that is the style of all of Caletti’s books. I’m not a huge fan of either cover, but I also have an issue with the butt shot (and have you noticed the billions of books that have this style?).

Double Take, Part VI

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This double take comes courtesy of the lovely Janssen. Like many of the other titles that have been featured as double takes, it seems crazy to me that two books can have the same cover and be published so close together.

Remember this title I reviewed? After the Moment features a distinctive cover:

Freymann-Weyr’s book was published May 18 of this year by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. I actually really liked the cover, as it captured a great moment of emotion, had a great color that stood out from the crowd, and, well, I’d never seen anything like it before. A refreshing change of pace, really.

But wait!

Get a look at Felicia C. Sullivan’s Sky Isn’t Visible from Here, published April 2009 by HarperCollins:

Yep, same cover, same girl, very similar color. The difference, of course, is the cropping of the picture itself.

Although I usually don’t have a strong opinion on “who did it better,” I think Freymann-Weyr’s cover is better because it better captures an emotion. I don’t like the cropped face in Sullivan’s cover because it shields an emotion in the book, and while I don’t believe as readers we should be hand held through character depiction, I do think that that emotional set up is a perfect rendering of the book itself. I haven’t read Sullivan’s book yet, so I can’t say for sure that the decision on cropping is representative of anything within it. Likewise, something else interesting to note with Sullivan’s cover is that this is just one of the cover variations — this cover is quite different and striking in a very different way.

What do you think? Who did it better?

Double Take, Part V, Sports Style!

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One of my favorite books this year so far has been Bill Konigsberg’s Out of the Pocket, and you can read my whole review here. It was an accident to find and read this one since it’s a sports story, but I loved it.


The cover is pretty memorable: the football player looking into the dusty distance. The sepia clouds and black ground just look unique and different to me, as does the orange title font. The reason I even found the book was it was faced out and the cover caught my attention (see – it is important!). Out of the Pocket was published September 2008 by Dutton.

Then while browsing books online recently, I found this one:


Tim Tharp’s Knights of the Hill Country (and, yes, this is the same Thrap of 2008’s The Spectacular Now) was published in 2006 by Laurel Leaf and explores similar themes to Konigsberg”s book, minus the issues surrounding the acceptance of one’s sexuality.

Sure the covers aren’t identical, but it’s remarkable how many similar elements they use, particularly because there are many overlapping themes. There’s the football player looking out in the dusty distance, the sepia tones, and the dark ground. Though they aren’t the same, the fonts are very similar, right down to the use of orange.

Regardless of how alike they look, I have to say that these covers really strike a chord with me as a revolution in the traditional sports novel. Working in my town’s public library in high school, I loathed reshelving the sports novels because they all looked the same (and uninteresting — sorry Matt Christopher!). These, however, are much more intriguing to me, and I think they would definitely draw readers who may otherwise believe they have no interest in a story revolving around sports.

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Though it’s probably obvious, the three of us at stacked have been a bit swamped the last couple of weeks. But that doesn’t mean we’re not reading and preparing some fabulous reviews. Personally, I’ve got three or so books on the docket for this week, and by the end of next week, we’ll have up our first round robin review of a very different book (I’d say *awesome* book, but I’ll wait to see what the others say first).

Double Take, Part IV

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This one just handed itself to me!

First, Dirty Laundry by Daniel Ehrenhaft, published December 30, 2008 by HarperTeen. This book follows the fledgling actress Carli as she prepares for her new role as a boarding school student and leaves her family and friends behind. Of course, she meets interesting characters in her new life and that leads to a number of interesting adventures. The story’s told through shifting narrators.


And….here’s the double take:


Cracked up to Be by Courtney Summers was published just a week before Dirty Laundry, on December 23, 2008 by St. Martin’s Griffin. The story follows Parker Fadley as she becomes secluded after a horrible event has left her feeling bad about herself. Although the description doesn’t give away a whole lot, it sounds a bit reminiscent of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.

Cover-wise, both fit the story descriptions. They’re a little bit different, but again, being published a week apart from one another and with such similar covers, it’ll be hard for either to stand out on their own. Both covers feature the girl in her school uniform lying down (with her head to the left) and both feature a stack of books on her stomach. The cover for Dirty Laundry, however, doesn’t showcase the girl’s head or face at all and instead features her feet and shoes. The uniforms on both covers are different, even though they feature the same style of a plaid skirt, polo shirt, and cardigan.

So … which one did it better?