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Lois Lowry: A Cover Retrospective

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We haven’t done one of these in a while, but I thought it was time to bust out a standard middle grade author for a little cover retrospective: Lois Lowry. She’s written a number of series (including Anastasia Krupnik, J. P. Tate, and Gooney Bird) and many stand alone books. I won’t hit every book, but just a few.

Without further ado, here’s a little look back!


The original Anastasia Krupnik debuted in 1979 with this cover. It’s timely and definitely fits with how middle grade (and then it may have even been considered teen) books looked. I love a girl with glasses on the cover. There are so few of them today! This cover’s also seen a few manifestations since:

I love how each of these covers is the story of when it was released. We have our mass market paperbacks (including the one we all probably ordered through Scholastic), the one with the best tag line ever (“The girl who thinks for herself”), the cover that screams 1990s (and does anyone else see Topanga from Boy Meets World channeled there?), and the Spanish language cover.


A Summer to Die was Lowry’s first standalone novel, and it published in 1977. The cover’s not entirely memorable, though it does have a little bit of a timeless feel to it. It actually reminds me a lot of Shannon Hale’s Goose Girl and River Secrets.

In other covers, we have much different feels than in the original. We have two with girls hanging out (and come on, we know what’s going to happen). The middle one here reminds me of a famous painting, too. But that last one? I love it so much. I think the pink and green there are decidedly middle grade feeling, and the flowers — the lone stem of them — are so evocative. I have seen this be the direction middle grade covers have gone and I’m really enjoying it. It makes the books feel more grown up to those readers in 5-7th grade while still being appropriate content wise.


The One Hundreth Thing About Caroline is the first title in Lowry’s J. P. Tate series, and it published in 1983. There’s nothing too spectacular about this cover. I’d rather point out the later edition’s cover on this one:


If ever a cover screamed early 1990s, I think this is it. We have the hair, the hair, and oh, the hair! I bet that cute boy (because you know he is) even used some Aquanet to achieve that look. It reminds me so much of the way the Babysitter’s Club books looked. And how different this is from the original cover, too. Completely different vibes.

Rabble Starkey was published in 1987. Can I say this is the best cover on any book ever? This girl strikes me as being sick — like one of those flu sorta things — and mom’s giving her a little love and a quilt and teddy bear to go snuggle up. But look, guys! Check out what she’s reading: a dictionary and a thesaurus. Roget’s even! The attention to detail on this cover astounds me. If I were of the age to read this book when it came out, just that alone would have been a sale for me.

Here’s the thing — the book is about the girl’s mom becoming mentally incapacitated. The girl has to move in with her friend. I’m sure that the girl is so happy mom remembered to send her packing with her dictionary and thesaurus.


Can’t mention Lowry without mentioning her classic Number the Stars, published in 1989. This is a book and a cover that has stood the test of time. Although the color’s changed a bit, and the placement of the Star has changed, the girl remains constant. This cover, for me, is part and parcel of the story. One look at the cover and I know immediately what the book is and what the story is.

And speaking of classic Lowry, let’s not forget this one:

The Giver came out in 1993, right at the time I was reading middle grade books. I remember this cover distinctly, and it, like Number the Stars is so memorable. I know immediately the story. This is also a cover that has not changed; it’s the same one today that it was when it first came out.

A little searching does pull up a few other covers. I suspect some are foreign, but they’re all quite different from the original:

What’s interesting to me is how much color there is on all of these, even the last one which is still primarily gray. Such a contrast to the black, stark cover above. And the blue one (which is in Spanish, I believe) is downright creepy looking.

Let’s fast forward to 2004, when Lowry released The Messenger, the second companion book to The Giver (the first companion being Gathering Blue).

I kind of hate this cover. It’s washed out and the boy’s face is just floating there. I’m kind of surprised this is a 2004 cover, too. Seems to me much earlier. Fortunately, we have a revision here which do work.

I’m not sure where the first cover is from, but I’m fairly certain it’s a foreign cover. The second one though I dig. I love the color and the creepy floating hands much more than the creepy floating face in the forest in the original cover. It seems more, I don’t know, Messanger-y to me.


2006 brought perhaps one of my favorite covers for Lowry’s Gossamer. I also love the title. What this cover does is so nice — it’s incredibly simple with the gray face and hand against a black background. The title is in color, though, and it definitely pops. And I like it much more than the other edition’s cover, which has a little too much going on for me.

Sparkles? Check. Butterfly? Check.
I think this one is a little too much gossamer for me, personally.

I’ve got one more Lowry cover to share, and that’s 2008’s The Willoughbys.


This one is so simple, but it works so well. I love the strangely shaped house in the middle, and I dig the black and white highlighted by just the smallest bits of red (and that red door!). The font is fun, too, and gives the title a willowy feel.

Your turn — what are your thoughts on any of these covers? Personally, I think my favorite might be Rabble Starkey for the obvious shout out to two of the most important books in the English language, followed by The Willoughbys.

Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau

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Jade is 13 years old and has just gotten her period, right in the middle of a department store changing room. She thought that trying to find the perfect bathing suit for her best friend Cori’s pool party was bad enough, but this takes trauma to a whole new level. And, of course, due to embarrassment over her late blooming, Jade had lied to Cori years earlier about already getting her period. So the only person she can talk to about everything is her father, who’s already overprotective due to the sad death of Jade’s mother by drowning the previous year. Which leads to Jade’s father careening down the aisle of the drugstore, cart filled with every sanitary product imaginable—right in front of Luke, Jade’s crush. Could life get any worse?

Well…yes. A few hours later, while relaxing in a bath with Epsom salts to help her painful cramps–Jade suddenly sprouts a tail. A real, live, holy-crap-I’m-a-mermaid??? tail.
Jade soon discovers that her mother was also a mermaid, and her parents were just waiting to see if Jade would show any ‘symptoms’ someday. But if her mother was a mermaid, that begs the question: How could a mermaid drown? Upon investigation, Jade soon discovers an entire world of mermaids in the waters around her coastal town, both friend and foe.
Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings was absolutely adorable. I think that mermaids may be the one type of paranormal novel that I have not yet burnt out on. While many aspects of this novel were fantastical, Boudreau grounds the more far-fetched aspects of the story in the protagonist, Jade, an utterly realistic thirteen year old dealing with everyday issues: getting her period, crushing on a seemingly unattainable boy, struggling with body image, and feeling insanely guilty for not being able to tell ANYONE the biggest secret of her life. Jade is self-conscious about her body and worried about acceptance, timid with boys yet utterly at home with her friends. Also, it is wonderful to see a character who worries about her stomach and her thighs without having these worries take over her entire life. She is also close with her father, who is both dealing with the aftermath of his wife’s death while struggling with being a single parents. Jade’s father is overwhelmingly supportive without being overbearing.
The portrayal of Jade and Cori’s friendship is also utterly refreshing. Cori is a three-dimensional character who is slighted when Jade distances herself after the big discovery. Cori’s reactions and emotions are utterly believable, but it is also wonderful to see how she stands by Jade in the end. Boudreau infuses this friendship with realism and the small details that truly bring these characters to life.
The author creates a rich, unique mermaid mythology in Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings, not content to simply use the traditional ‘palace under the sea’ tale that we see so often. The details of Jade’s transformation and her mother’s heritage are explained well and fully, and the mermaid creatures living in the waters around Jade’s town have their own twist, as well. In a far-fetched tale such as this one, water-tight details help to make the unbelievable believable.
This was a fun, quick read that left me with a smile on my face. While this book would most likely appeal to a middle grade audience, the lower end of YA would also enjoy it. I would of course hand this to fans of Tera Lynn Child’s Forgive My Fins, but a readalike more similar in tone would definitely be Erin Dionne’s Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies.

Entangled by Cat Clarke

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Grace wakes up and begins writing. It’s all she’s allowed to do in this white room, with white sheets, white walls, a white floor.

She starts on Day 3 of being in this place.

Entangled is a story that unravels bit by bit through Grace’s diary. Each page brings us one step closer to understanding where she is and why she’s here. Something horrible has happened in her life, though it’s never entirely clear what THE event was that caused things to spiral. As readers, we’re left to piece together our conclusions.

Clarke does something really smart in the way she invites us into Grace’s world. The people in her life are introduced purposefully: we first meet Ethan. He plays a large part in Grace being where she is and he’s a large point of reference for her while she writes through her thoughts. He’s — if you will — her “after.” After we get to know and build a trust with Ethan, we’re taken back a step further to meet best friend Sal. We know early on that something awful happened to Sal. Grace is there to support her, but Sal pushes her away until she ultimately blames her for the events. Their relationship is rocky. Sal’s sort of that middle place: she’s not Grace’s “after” nor her “before.” Then we meet Nat. He’s the guy Grace has a real relationship with. She spends a lot of time thinking about him in her writing and talking specifically about those feelings she’s developed and the uncertainty of his reciprocating them. She wants to tell him she loves him, but how? Fortunately, he makes the first move.

Or is it so fortunate?

I’ll say this much: he’s also not her “before.” He’s right there with Sal in that middle area. Then there is her “before.” Because I don’t want to give it away, I won’t hint as to what it is. When you read this book, Grace drops clues leading you to what it might be. But then it comes together in a much more shocking manner and in a way that explains Grace and her actions so well. And because we’re working through these things with Grace in her diary, we see it surprises her, too. It’s a thread she herself doesn’t fully grasp until the end, though the end is really her beginning.

I’ve explained far more about plot than I intended but that’s because this is a tough book to describe succinctly. There is so much going on in Grace’s mind that it would be impossible to boil it down to one thing that causes her to end up in this place. It’s also hard not to spoil the revelations and twists that happen. But if I were to say what my impression of the book is it’s this: Entangled is a story of grief. It’s not just about grief, though. It’s also about love and romance and what it feels like to hit rock bottom and be unsure how to claw back up and out.

Clarke’s voice for Grace is one of the most realistic 17-year-olds I’ve read. Grace, despite being in her mental state, is witty and thoughtful, as well as sad, broken, and ultimately, hopeful. The way she interacts with Nat, Ethan, and Sal are realistic, and the way their friendships and romances wax and wane are spot on. And the feelings she has she doesn’t hold back on: there is one scene where she feels so alone and broken, and she is uninhibited talking about how another girl’s ability to recognize she exists meant the world to her. It’s in those moments that we really connect with Grace and want her to succeed.

Grace isn’t necessarily a good girl, nor is she really a bad girl. She’s flawed. Some readers will be repulsed by her and find how she acts and treats those around her inappropriate. Others will find her extremely likable. I found myself rooting for her completely — she’s got it rough, and it seems like so many people aren’t willing to reach out to her in this time. Except Ethan, that is. But here’s the thing: I’m not sure Ethan’s really there pulling for her either. I think it’s Grace pulling for herself the entire time. She is both her best friend and worst enemy, and it all goes back to her being perfectly 17.

This book is extremely well constructed. At times, you feel like you know what’s going to happen, but then Clarke pushes a new twist in the narrative — into Grace’s diary — and suddenly things aren’t as clear as they seemed. In the end, though, they fuse in a way that makes perfect sense. We have immediate access to Grace’s mind; we’re working things out right along with her, and it’s usually pretty sloppy and all over the place. But, Grace is much smarter than she gives herself credit for, and we’re lucky to see that ourselves.

Entangled reminded me of what Courtney Summers does in Fall for Anything — we have a girl struggling to come to terms with unfettered grief. And what I love is how different this book is from Summers’s. The way Grace works through it is unique, and that’s precisely why I think these two titles are such great readalikes to one another. They’re almost in an interesting conversation with one another, reassuring the reader that there is no one way to work through anything and there’s no one answer to right and wrong. There’s nothing that can explain some of the most mysterious and horrible aspects of life.

What probably excites me most about this book is that someone can read it and completely disagree with every word of my interpretation of intention. There is so much going on and so many possibilities at the core of this novel, that another reader can walk away thinking this book is primarily about the destructive power of love and friendship. And you know, they’re right, too. This is also a book about self mutilation and a book about teen pregnancy (and there is an abortion, which is a topic recently discussed here).

Without doubt, this is one of the strongest books I’ve read in a long time, though it certainly won’t be for everyone. It’s intense and dark, and it is completely unflinching. Clarke does not shy away from graphic details — they’re real but never once over-the-top or included simply to get a rise from the reader. It goes back to Grace being 17 and to her dealing with grief the only way she knows how.

I hope this book makes its way overseas soon, as this is a UK release by a debut author. You can purchase it right here. I am so glad I bought it because it’s one I know I’ll revisit.

In My Mailbox (22)

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Welcome to another installment of In My Mailbox, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a chance to highlight the books received for review, from the library, or purchased in the last week.

Can I just say how nice and quiet it was? Because it was! I’ve had a chance to catch up on some back list titles lately, as well as some new ones, without a lot of review obligations.

For review:

Nada!

From the library:

Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson: I read this one this week after finishing Nelson’s classic Girl. Let’s say I’m on a kick here. I will post a review soon, but this one is high on guy appeal, is fast paced, and reminded me a bit of Mark Shulman’s Scrawl.

Bought:

Entangled by Cat Clarke: This debut book made its way from the UK for me. A contemporary fiction that I’m about half way through. Great voice in this one.

Winner of Harmonic Feedback

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Thanks to everyone who entered for the chance to win a copy of Harmonic Feedback. This was the second highest number of entries on a book contest — what fantastic response!

The random generator chose Aydrea as the winner, and she’s been in touch and the book’s on the way.

Stay tuned for another giveaway in February, and don’t forget you can enter here for a chance to win Flash Burnout.