I love when these sneak up on you. When you see a cover posted somewhere and suddenly realize you know that cover. You’ve seen it before. Oh and this one is even more fun because they share something else, too.
Boyproof by Cecil Castellucci: This one was published by Candlewick in 2006. Of all the covers that feature faces, this one stands out to me a bit. It’s pale and the angle different than so many of the others. It helps that this one came along before the face trend really caught on.
Dear Bully will be published by HarperCollins in fall 2011. It’s an anthology of 70 authors talking bullying. You can read more about the project here, since it doesn’t seem to be up yet on Amazon or GoodReads.
Besides the cover, these two share an author — Cecil Castellucci pens a contribution in Dear Bully.
The image on both is the same girl, but the cropping and color treatment is different enough that they will stand apart. I like each for a different reason. Boy Proof has a real starkness to it, while Dear Bully has that “serious” feel to it. I think it all has to do with the cropping and the lack of eyebrow.
Do you have a preference? Does one work better than the other?
I love Boyproof, both as a book and the cover. I think the contrast of her eyebrows against the skin always made it jump off the shelf. The cover for Dear Bully is shaded enough to make her look sad and serious, which definitely fits the topic. I think they both work for their "first glance".
Another similar one is THE DECLARATION by Gemma Malley. I think it might be the same model?
Wow, I love that you spotted this one! They work in such different ways, but I'd never really seen the BOYPROOF cover so now I look at it and see DEAR BULLY because I'm more used to that one. It's odd. It makes BOYPROOF feel more ominous to me. But I love the colors on that one–such great and subtle contrasts.