STACKED

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Guest Post for the Courtney Summers Read Along

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A few months ago, I heard about Ciara’s Courtney Summers read along. She’d put out a call for guest posts, and I decided it’d be fun to give it a shot.

So today you can head over there and read what I have to say about female characters, about gender, and about how great Summers is at writing girls that we know. Even if you’ve never read any of these books, I think the post speaks to the idea of how we box and label female characters and how our perceptions as readers would change were those females instead written as males.

I’m giving away a set of her books, as well, and the giveaway is open to anyone worldwide who can get shipments from The Book Depository.

Reflecting On My Own Year in Reading

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After breaking down the “Best of” lists last week, I thought about how interesting it would be to look at my own year of reading YA in different categories and see what I did and did not get to. Then I read this post over at YA Highway about making a commitment to be a better reading in the upcoming year, and I knew it would be worth it to look and see what a year in my reading life really looked like. While I don’t believe in making reading resolutions — that’s something I talked about at the beginning of this year — I do think there is a value in looking at what I am reading and reflecting upon why and how those were the titles I chose to spend time with. I think there’s merit, too, in considering what books I didn’t read and how and where I can better expand my reading in the future.

My reading this year has been significantly impacted by being on a committee. This committee has made me read a lot of books outside my comfort zone. I’ll be so bold as to suggest that I have read far more authors of diverse backgrounds when it comes to race, ethnicity, religious viewpoint, sexuality, and more than I ever have in my entire life. It’s been an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to talk a little bit more about it when my committee develops out final list at ALA Midwinter in January. Though I have read fewer titles this year than I have in recent years — about 170 so far, as opposed to breaking over 200 the last couple of years — I’ve read much wider and deeper than I think I ever have.

Because I can’t really talk about the books I’ve read for that committee nor what those books look like quite yet, what I decided to do for this post was look exclusively at the YA fiction titles that I’ve read in 2013. As of this writing, I’ve read 72 YA titles in the past year.

What have I read? Here’s a list, in moderately chronological order from the beginning of the year:

Pretty Girl-13 Liz Coley
The Murmurings Carly Anne West
Just One Day Gayle Forman
Thousand Words Jennifer Brown
All You Never Wanted Adele Griffin
Black Helicopters Blythe Woolston
The Whole Stupid Way We Are N. Griffin
I’m With Stupid Geoff Herbach
Wild Awake Hilary Smith
Scowler Daniel Kraus
Charm and Strange Stephanie Kuehn
Bruised Sarah Skilton
Me, Him, Them, and It Caela Carter
Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets Evan Roskos
Out of the Easy Ruta Sepetys
Sex and Violence Carrie Mesrobian
Pinned Sharon Draper
Rotten Michael Northrop
17 & Gone Nova Ren Suma
Permanent Record Leslie Stella
Over You Amy Reed
If You Could Be Mine Sara Farizan
Starting From Here Lisa Jenn Bigelow
The Book of Broken Hearts Sarah Ockler
Chasing Before Lenore Appelhans
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip Jordan Sonnenblick
Fault Line Christa Desir
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass Meg Medina
Second Impact David Klass / Perri Klass
If He Had Been With Me Lara Nowlin
The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
Sold Patricia McCormick
Freakboy Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Sex and Violence Carrie Mesrobian
September Girls Bennett Madison
Winger Andrew Smith
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock Matthew Quick
Tomorrow CK Kelly Martin
The Program Suzanne Young
The Moon and More Sarah Dessen
All Our Pretty Songs Sarah McCarry
All The Truth That’s in Me Julie Berry
Maggot Moon Sally Gardner
Rotters Daniel Kraus
To Be Perfectly Honest Sonya Sones
Infinite Moment of Us Lauren Myracle
Teeth Hannah Moskowitz
Roomies Tara Altebrando / Sara Zarr
Fangirl Rainbow Rowell
Reality Boy AS King
Thin Space Jody Casella
The Theory of Everything Kari Luna
Cinder Marissa Meyer
OCD Love Story Corey Ann Haydu
Bright Before Sunrise Tiffany Schmidt
Dead Ends Erin Jade Lange
Friday Never Leaving Vikki Wakefield
Meet Me at the River Nina de Gramont
Engines of the Broken World Jason Van Hee
The Golden Day Ursula Duborasky
Waking Dark Robin Wasserman
Chasing Shadows Swati Avasthi
The In-Between Barbara Stewart
Inheritance Malinda Lo
Sick Tom Leveen
Juvie Steve Watkins
Ink is Thicker Than Water Amy Spalding
Heartbeat Elizabeth Scott
We Were Liars E Lockhart
Prince of Venice Beach Blake Nelson
The Killing Woods Lucy Christopher
Just One Year Gayle Forman

Gender Breakdown


When it came to my own year in reading, I definitely read more female authors than I did male authors. This doesn’t surprise me at all — though it’s also not intentional nor is it out of some principle I hold to read more female authors than male. I think the books I most wanted to read this year happened to also be written by female authors, and I do think because there are more females writing and publishing YA, the opportunity to read more females presents itself.

I read a total of 72 authors this year. I doubled up on two authors: Gayle Forman and Daniel Kraus. I counted them each only one time. Of those 72 authors, 80% were female and 20% were male.

Because I broke down the gender of main characters in the “best of” analysis, I thought I’d break down the gender of main characters in my own reading, too. This was tough because of multiple characters, but I found I’d had 84 main characters to pull from. Because it was too hard to tease out who were or weren’t main characters in Robin Wasserman’s The Waking Dark, I chose to keep that book out of this tally.

Like with the “best of” breakdown, the percentages are a little closer together than they were with gender of authors. There was one book featuring a trans main character, and I read 32 male characters and 51 female main characters.

Front List and Back List


What sort of distribution was there when it came to date of publication in my YA reading habits? Did I tackle more front list than back list?

It doesn’t surprise me in the least that I read far more books published in 2013 than I did books published prior. There were a total of 60 books I read published in 2013, with 7 books published prior to this year. I also read 5 books that will be published in 2014.

Again, I don’t put pressure on myself to reach certain reading goals, but I do think I want to spend a little more time in the coming year reading more books from the back list. I will say that this year I bought more books that were back list titles than I have in the past. I just haven’t yet read them. Perhaps it’s time to get working on that.

Books by Genre


I know I read primarily realistic fiction, and that was especially true at the beginning of this year when I was trying to wrap up reading some titles for my own book on contemporary YA. I also know I read quite a bit of horror, and that played out in an article I was able to write for School Library Journal in September.

But what did the actual distribution of YA genres look like this year for me?

Almost 70% of my reads this year were realistic, with historical fiction and horror in far second and third place. I read an equal number of science fiction and fantasy titles, as well as two titles I chose to classify as magical realism, rather than putting them in another category.

LGBTQ and POC Representation


I know one place I can definitely do better, and it is reading more titles written by or featuring LGBTQ or POC. I’m trying to be more observant of this because I want to make sure these are titles I’m spending more time reading and recommending not only here at the blog, but also in my own work in the library.

Out of the 72 books I read this year, I read a total of 9 books that were written by or featured LGBTQ characters or situations within them (by “situations,” I mean it’s a plot point or discussion when the main character may not identify). Some books do double duty, and the author and a character identify.

The books I put in this category include:

  • Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter (the main character’s aunts are lesbians)
  • Over You by Amy Reed
  • If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
  • Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
  • Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark
  • Winger by Andrew Smith
  • Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
  • The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
  • Inheritance by Malinda Lo
When it came to POC in the books I read this year, I did a little bit better. But I could still improve in my reading. I read a total of 11 books written by or featuring POC characters or situations within them (again, by “situations,” I mean it’s a plot point or discussion when the main character may not identify, such as in Geoff Herbach’s I’m With Stupid, where Felton’s girlfriend/not-a-girlfriend is biracial). Some books do double duty, and the author and a character identify.
The books I put in this category include:
  • I’m With Stupid by Geoff Herbach
  • Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
  • Pinned by Sharon Draper
  • Permanent Record by Leslie Stella
  • If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
  • The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
  • Fault Line by Christa Desir
  • Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina 
  • Sold by Patricia McCormick
  • Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi
  • Inheritance by Malinda Lo 
Debut and Seasoned Authors

The final category I looked at in my YA reading this year was whether the books I read were written by debut or more seasoned authors. I limited myself to the 60 books I read published in 2013. 
I read a total of 23 novels by debut authors this year and 37 written by more seasoned authors. I’m pretty impressed with this divide, actually: I read far more debut novels this year than I thought I did. 
What I’m Taking From This


I’m not sure there is a whole lot to “take” from breaking down my own YA reading this year, though it does offer insight into the kinds of books I tend to gravitate towards. Part of this was certainly related to outside projects going on in my life — I saved a number of books I was really looking forward to reading as rewards for getting through committee reading. I also front loaded this year on realistic fiction so I could write about them in some way. 
Part of me wonders what it would look like if I broke down my year in writing reviews and features here on STACKED. I wonder if I don’t talk enough about diversity or about other topics outside my own comfort zone. But then I think about those things I did write about: female sexuality, body politics, and more, and I’m seeing that the way I read really does impact what I’m writing about, whether I’m calling something out specifically or not. It all influences my thinking and my perspective on reading and on writing about reading.
Which brings me back to that YA Highway post and a quote from Haruki Murakami that has been one of my all-time favorite quotes for years: If you only read the same books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.  
The more I push myself to read outside my comfort zone, the more I think I’m able to write outside my comfort zone and the more I’m able to read those books I love reading and which are comfortable to me in a manner that makes them have more power or impact — whether it’s because I discover I like them more or because I discover they might be problematic or speak to an issue in a way I never thought about before. While my YA reading year didn’t feature as much diversity as I hoped, my committee reading certainly has, and I see where the ideas I’ve read about there and the voices I’ve experienced have impacted my thinking about the other things I’ve read.
For those who love reading and those who love to talk about reading, particularly those who spread their love of reading to other readers or emerging readers, I think spending time to reflect upon your own reading is invaluable. I don’t think you have to set goals or resolutions to read or do certain things in your habits. But I do think when you look at the hard data and admit to yourself where you’re weak, you’re acknowledging something about yourself and about the perspective you have. Even though I don’t set goals, I see where I have some holes and I find that I want to do better. Not only does it make me a better reader and a better global citizen, but it helps me better encourage other readers to do the same thing. 

When it comes to the end of the year and reflecting upon your own reading, do you notice any trends? Are there things you wish you did better? Or are there things you’re impressed you did do, even if it didn’t feel like it in the moment? I’d love to hear what you see in a year’s worth of your own reading.

“New Adult” at The Horn Book, “Beyond the Bestsellers” at Book Riot, and More

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Earlier this fall, following the presentation we gave at ALA Annual on the topic, Liz Burns, Sophie Brookover, and myself were asked by Roger Sutton if we’d be interested in writing about “new adult” fiction for The Horn Book.

After lots of brainstorming and a lot of editing, reframing, reconsidering, and rewriting, we were pleased with the final product. You can read the article “What’s New in ‘New Adult'” in the January/February print edition — or you can click and enjoy it right here in full.

Over at Book Riot, I continue my monthly “Beyond the Bestsellers” series by talking about suggested next reads for those who love Ransom Riggs’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Check it out.

Finally, a link I don’t have and likely won’t have for a while, I do have an article in the January edition of The Teaching Librarian, which is a publication out of the Ontario Library Association (you can read full back issues and learn more about the journal here). I wrote about having a “gender-free” library and all of the ways that librarians can develop, promote, and encourage library participation without falling into the “for boys” or “for girls” mindset.

There’s one more guest post I wrote that’ll go up some time before the end of the year, and when it goes live, I’ll post about it. Otherwise, it’s business as usual here at STACKED. And as always, thanks for being readers — I appreciate it, and I’m pretty sure I can speak on behalf of Kimberly in saying that we are so grateful for everyone who stops by, reads what we write, comments, shares, or even thinks about what we have to say.

2014 YA Cover Trends: A Look at What’s to Come, Part 2

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Today’s look at 2014 cover trends is a little bit longer than yesterday, so if you enjoyed that peek at the year ahead in books, you’ll enjoy today’s even more. Again, there’s no science to these trends. I’ve pulled together some interesting things I’ve noticed by perusing publisher catalogs and looking at the covers as they’ve been revealed over the last few months.

All links go to Goodreads so you can add the books to your to-read lists if you want to, and I’m completely open to hearing about other traditionally published books coming out next year that might fit any of these trends. I know I’m going to miss some, and I know this is only a fraction of the books that will fall into these categories, since many covers for later 2014 titles haven’t been unveiled yet.

Insects


Insects seem to be the rage in the coming year. You have butterflies, of course, but then there are other bugs taking up some space on YA covers in 2014, too. What they all have in common is that they’re not just any old insects. They’re all winged (and most are flying).

Breakfast Served Anytime by Sarah Combs

Buzz Kill by Beth Fantaskey

Cured by Bethany Wiggins — The tagline “The Hunger Games with a wicked sting” actually makes me cringe a bit.

The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth

The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams — This had a different cover initially, which I think I liked better. It spoke to the content a lot more (or at least what it sounds like the book is about, since I haven’t read it yet).

The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer — This one also had a different cover initially.



The Taking by Kimberly Derting

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Unhinged by A. G. Howard

Wings by Elizabeth Richards

Girls Being Held


How’s this image as a contrast for strong girls on covers or in YA books more broadly? These are book covers featuring girls who are being held. And I jest with the first line: not all of these are about a weak girl, since some are meant to be fun. But some of them do make me cringe with the message they might be sending about being saved/rescued.

Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

Forever by Karen Ann Hopkins

Of Neptune by Anna Banks

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors — The pitch for this one is Romeo and Juliet meets Justified.

In The Shadows


While we’re looking at couples, how about those couples who are shadowy figures in the cover? There are a bunch of them. I know this isn’t a new trend, but again, it’s one I’ve seen popping up more and more (I don’t mind it — it gives us people without giving us exactly who those people are, which leaves quite a bit to the reader’s imagination).



Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke — I can’t place my finger on it, but this cover is just really appealing to me.

Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Starling by Fiona Paul

Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana

The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi

The Worlds We Make by Megan Crewe

Getting Symbolic


I think we can thank Divergent and The Hunger Games for making this trend happen and allowing it to continue. These are books which feature some kind of big symbol in the middle of the cover to serve as something iconic to the story.

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Flame by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau

Into the Dark by Bree Despain

Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong

Font-Driven Design


This was a trend I talked about last year for 2013 covers, and it’s a trend that’ll continue on well into 2014. These are covers where the title font takes up at least half the cover’s real estate and/or drives the entire design of the cover itself. For the most part, this is a technique I really like. It really hammers home the title of the book, and it gives a better sense of timelessness to the cover. Not all are perfect, but many of these are better than those covers which strive for memory with a specific image. Sometimes, simpler is better (plus, by being font-driven, the title of the book is more likely to be recalled). This is the biggest trend I’ve pulled, so enjoy this gallery of over 60 books.

Allies & Assassins by Justin Somper

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig

Buzz Kill by Beth Fantaskey

Catch A Falling Star by Kim Culbertson

Chorus by Emma Trevayne

Cold Calls by Charles Benoit



Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Dirt Bikes, Drones, And Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft

Don’t Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Healey

End Times by Anna Schumacher

Endless by Kate Brian

Erased by Jennifer Rush

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Flame by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka

High & Dry by Sarah Skilton

House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

Idols by Margaret Stohl

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

In The End by Demitria Lunetta

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Killer Instinct by S. E. Green

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Life By Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaria

Nil by Lynne Matson

On the Road to Find Out by Rachel Toor

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

Push by Eve Silver

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Starbird Murphy and the World Outside by Karen Finneyfrock

Storm by D. J. Machale

The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

Tease by Amanda Maciel

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

The Hit by Melvin Burgess

The Lure by Lynne Ewing

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor

The Violet Hour by Whitney A. Miller

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Young World by Chris Weitz

Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen by Nicholas Christopher — The cover reminds me so much of this one from last year.

Vivian Divine is Dead by Lauren Sabel

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

While We Run by Karen Healey

White Space by Ilsa J. Bick

Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrendorf

Wicked Games by Sean Olin

Wild by Alex Mallory

The Worlds We Make by Megan Crewe

Holding the Light / Street Lights


Two trends for the price of one category. Here we have people who are carrying light in their hands or we have streetlights in the cover image. I have no idea why this one popped out at me, but it did.

Fates by Lanie Bross

Love Reborn by Yvonne Woon

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

There Will Come A Time by Carrie Arcos — I feel like I’ve read a lot of descriptions featuring twins for 2014, so I might have to do another book list of titles featuring twins in some way.

The Mirror Effect


Here’s an interesting one: more and more covers featuring either mirrored images or images that are reflections either on the top and bottom of the cover or on the left and right halves separately.

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Frozen by Erin Bowman

Guardian by Alex London

Split Second by Kasie West

The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams

Unravel by Imogen Howson

People of Color on Covers


This is not a trend, but rather, it’s something I noticed in the covers I looked at and it’s something I want to see more and more and more. I thought pointing out what I have seen would be worthwhile if for no other reason than to draw attention to them. I hope over the course of the new year that more covers feature people of color on them because there should be more covers like this.

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

Call Me By My Name by John Ed Bradley

Girl in Reverse by Barbara Stuber

Like No Other by Una LaMarche

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

Pointe by Brandy Colbert

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

While We Run by Karen Healey

Fat Girls! On Covers!


The exclamation marks are probably a little bit overstating it, but there are two — count them, two — covers that feature girls on them who are a little bit bigger. Both are sketches, of course, since an actual image of a fat girl would be expecting a lot, but this is still a step forward.

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles

The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

Of course, these two positive covers are off-set a bit by the fact this book is coming out next year and features such an awful statement with its cover and that this book, which is about a fat girl, features fat girl arms and her hands holding a cupcake. Because, you know, fat people should always be associated with food.


To be fair, the author of the second book wrote about her cover and how they’ve mocked up an alternate possibility that actually features a fat body — not that it would happen, but rather done as a means of discussing the fat girl on covers issue. Except, I think the mockup is even more problematic than the first (despite the fact this is a major plot point, this image ALSO shames fat bodies as wrong).

There is a whole blog post or two in this, isn’t there?






Favorite Covers for 2014 (So Far)


To end this roundup of cover trends, I thought I’d share the ones that struck me as particularly good or memorable. These are my favorites, and each of them appeal to me in a very different way. Some I’ve already featured over the last couple of days and some I haven’t yet talked about.


After the End by Amy Plum
Demon Derby by Carrie Harris  
Don’t You Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn 

Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach

Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff

I Have A Bad Feeling About This by Jeff Strand

Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

The Break-up Artist by Philip Siegel

The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt

The End or Something Like That by Ann Dee Ellis

So what do you think? Any favorites among these trends? Any covers you don’t like? Can you think of other trends so far in 2014 that you’ve seen in your own perusal of upcoming books? Let’s talk about covers and what we’re liking — and even not liking — in the coming year.

2014 YA Cover Trends: A Look at What’s to Come, Part 1

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I like covers and I liked trends, so of course, I love looking at cover trends. This is especially true at the end of the year, when the covers for books coming out in 2014 have been popping up more and more. Like last year, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a handful of trends I’ve spotted in my cover research. In addition to talking about just cover trends, I thought it would be worth hitting on a few other trendy things I’ve picked up in reading blurbs and summaries of titles, so that’ll be scattered throughout today and tomorrow’s posts as well.

Not all of these are tried-and-true trends nor will they necessarily play out all year long, but they’re common things I’ve noticed among a number of covers that stuck out to me. Some books will pop up multiple times, and I’ll certainly miss some within the trends. It’s only a glimpse of covers I’ve seen, too, among the publisher catalogs that are readily available to peruse. In other words: this isn’t science. But I like to think of this series of posts as a look ahead to the new year in YA. Of course, if other 2014 titles which will be traditionally published fit any of these trends, I’d love to know in the comments. 
Links go to the book’s listing on Goodreads, since posting the descriptions with the titles would make these posts way too long. With that, let’s dig in! 
Feathered

Last year, I pointed out an interesting trend of birds on YA covers. We won’t be getting too far away from that in 2014, actually, as books like Conversion will keep it going a bit. But what I found to be an interesting trend this year was that feathers are making quite an appearance. There are bird feathers of all sorts to be found in the coming year. 

Bloodwitch by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Empower by Jessica Shirvington

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Fragile Spirits by Mary Lindsey

Infinite by Jodi Meadows

The Island of Excess Love by Francesca Lia Block

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland
White Space by Ilsa J. Bick — this might be continuing the bird trend, too, but I’m looking at all of the many feathers. 
Something’s On Fire

It appears there’s something ablaze next year in YA (no, I won’t apologize for the pun). Here’s a handful of covers featuring a little — or a lot of — flame on them. I think there’s a bigger trend here, actually, of red being a predominant color on covers in 2014. 

Demon Derby by Carrie Harris

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Incinerator by Niall Leonard

Summoned by Anne M. Pillsworth
Timestorm by Julie Cross
Daggers

The 2014 weapon of choice is the dagger. There are daggers as symbols and representative of the whole story on the cover, and then there are daggers in the hands of people. More specifically, those daggers are in the hands of females — is there something to that? Does it make her appear strong visually or is it because a dagger is a weapon of choice for female characters? Both? 

Defy by Sara B. Larson

Lady Thief by A. C. Gaughen — Incidentally, this is one of my favorite titles of 2014. It’s so simple but at the same time, it tells you so much about the story without even needing to look at the description of the book.

Passionaries by Tonya Hurley — This series was redesigned, and I think for the better. Though, this is still kind of lost on me a bit.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Summoned by Anne M. Pillsworth

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

The Queen’s Choice by Cayla Kluver
Warrior by Ellen Oh
The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
The Illustrated Cover

Can we call this trend what it is? It’s the Eleanor & Park alike trend. Illustrated covers were very rare for YA, but there’s little doubt in my mind that that book’s success made illustrated covers look like a possible winning choice. But these aren’t just illustrated covers: they’re illustrated covers that make no illusions about the fact the story is a romance. 
While we’re at it, can we talk about another trend here, which is calling a number of these books read alikes to Eleanor & Park? Between Rowell’s book and the comparisons to John Green and/or his book The Fault in Our Stars, I think there’s definitely a push toward more realistic fiction in YA. But it’s a very specific kind of realistic fiction. 
Before I dive into that a little more, let’s look at the illustrated covers, shall we? Some of these are fully illustrated and others are illustrated with something non illustrated layered on top.
 

Fool Me Twice by Mandy Hubbard

Solving For Ex by Leigh Ann Kopans — The girl image here was used on a YA book in 2009 or 2010, and it happens to be the same stock image girl who is used in a Mango Languages advertisement, too. I can’t remember the name of the book, and I think they’d changed her hair color to be brown in it. Anyone know?

Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae

These first three aren’t the best at highlighting the real trend I’m noting, but I’m putting them first so the visual impact of the trend pops out in the next sets of covers.

Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff

Like No Other by Una LaMarche

**Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan — This is called “perfect” for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell

Love By The Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan

One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva

**Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern — The marketing for this book calls it The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor & Park. As, or maybe more, interesting is that the original pitch for this book was The Fault in Our Stars meets Wonder.

Trouble by Non Pratt

The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell

Both starred titles above were compared to both Green and Rowell’s books. But they’re not alone in with that comparison. Here’s a short list of titles out next year — and a couple set for 2015 — that are also comped to one or both of those in the coming year.

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor — this one notes that it follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars. Which I guess suggests no one wrote about cancer before?

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy — on Edelweiss, this one is called The Fault in Our Stars meets Sarah Dessen.

Invincible by Amy Reed — this is just the pitch for the book, which sounds like it’s due out some time next year. I’ll be interested in seeing if that’s the same pitch that’ll be used by marketing to sell the book to readers.

The End of the Beginning by Michelle Levy — pitched as a “darker” Eleanor & Park to be published in 2015.

Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer — in the same week the book above was announced, this book was announced as being a cross of The Interestings and The Fault in Our Stars. This is a 2015er, too.

I could probably pull up dozens more. Of course, it’s easy to call to Green and Rowell as comparisons in a pitch or with marketing. Big names. Big exposure. But I think the comparisons start to mean nothing after a while.

I point to a middle grade novel next year that’s being called “John Green for the middle grade.” But it’s a book with magic in it. So what does that even mean? The characters are actual people?

This is a trend that I hope goes out soon because it’s meaningless, it’s ascribing a huge amount of power to one or two individuals/books (I mean, “in the tradition” is a weighty phrase to toss around about a book which has only been out for two years), and it suggests that realistic books are one kind of thing, when we’re talking about a rise in realistic fiction. It also undermines originality with the text at hand when it’s heavily used as a marketing tool, in the sense that it may disappoint many readers and may turn off many other readers. While the comparisons are certainly helpful for those readers eager for a similar next read, they’re less helpful in showcasing the wide range of realistic fiction that exists. I also think it perpetuates the myth of “the next big thing.”

All that said, I have a feeling we’ll see this going on for another year or two at least.

& Ampersands

Remember how in 2012 and 2013 we had a lot of titles with ampersands?  Let’s add a bunch more in 2014, too.

Allies & Assassins by Justin Somper

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

Embers & Ash by T. M. Goeglein

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

High & Dry by Sarah Skilton — I am going to get this cover confused with Melvin Burgess’s The Hit, as they’re both red, with a giant pill capsule in the center and a title which is only two real words long.

House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple





Red Heads


There’s a long-running joke that there are more red heads in YA fiction than pretty much there are red heads in the world. I know I’ve read plenty of red heads. In 2014, we’ll get to see plenty of red heads on the covers of YA, too.

Did I mention a theme of red in the coming year?

Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

Creators by Tiffany Truitt

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Deception’s Princess by Esther Friesner

Find Me Where the Water Ends by Rachel Carter

Night School Legacy by C. J. Daughtery



Minders by Michelle Jaffe

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick

Speech Bubbles


How about covers with speech bubbles on it to hold the title in place? This isn’t a huge trend — only three covers have caught my eye with it so far — but it was one that did catch my eye since I haven’t seen it used a whole lot.

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Hung Up by Kristen Tracy

When Mr. Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan

Sunglasses


I want to wrap up today’s post on a fun one, which is sunglasses. There are a lot of sunglasses in 2014 making their appearance on people’s faces on covers. We’ve got hipster sunglasses to the straight-out-of-the-1990s look.



Don’t Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Geek Girl: Picture Perfect by Holly Smale

My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten — Check out the flip flops, too. This cover is a riot and I think is completely spot-on for readership. You know exactly who this book is for and exactly who will pick it up off the shelf.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Tomorrow I’ll have a ton more cover trends for 2014 to show off, and I’ll pull out a handful of my favorites.

Any favorite covers among these? Any trends you’re enjoying? What’s catching your eye? I personally love the sunglasses one, and I think that the red cover look is really great — it pops on a shelf, since it’s such a bold color.