Cover story
Last weekend, I got a look at the new covers for Mike Mullin's ASHFALL and ASHEN WINTER.
The cover hints at what's inside, but to know it, you've got to read it.
When I got home, I surveyed the covers of some of my favorite books. I've currently got my books organized on the shelf according to the rainbow. Red spines together, then orange, then yellow . . . It drives my daughter nuts because books in a series don't always share the same spine colors.
To find all of the books in Lemony Snicket's A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, she's got to look through every last book on the shelf. Sometimes she emerges from her search with Snicket, but other times, something different will catch her eye. She'll respond to a cover image, pull the book onto her lap and begin to read.
She gets it from me. A good cover is essential. Probably helps explain why I'm having trouble switching over to an e-reader. I read books for the stories, but I buy them for the covers. Some people have beautiful paintings or sculptures. I'm a fan of beautiful books.
Ask my poor husband about the Christmas I pontificated my belief original book art is far superior to movie book covers. He'd already done his shopping. And wrapping. Back to the store he went. Even though the story contained inside the movie cover book was the one I'd asked for, he knew I wouldn't enjoy it half as much if it had the wrong cover.
We shouldn't judge books by covers, we do. Or, at least, I do.
Books, homes, cities, dogs, colleagues, lovers, kids, and pretty much every other thing in the universe. Big and small, wrong or right we are constantly judging our world by a collective set of standards.
The rebels in the crowd are disagreeing with me now. That's cool. It's your judgement call.
Last week I read David Levithan's newest novel, EVERY DAY. The book's unique premise ensnared me, so I did my happy dance when the package arrived in the mail. I unwrapped the book to steal my first glimpse at the cover and thought, "Uh? Maybe this won't be so great." As covers go, it isn't my cup of tea.
Thankfully, I opened the book and began to read. Turns out the story is exactly the kind I like.
Every day for sixteen years, A has woken in the body of a different person. The person is always the same age as A, but could be any gender, race, sexual orientation, body type, or socioeconomic status. A has no control over the choice of vessel, but has learned how to live quietly amongst these other lives.
Nomadic life is cool, until A meets Rhiannon. Rhiannon who wakes in the same body each day. Rhiannon who likes her unique name. Rhiannon who is kind. Rhiannon who believes she has spent the most romantic day with her boyfriend - even if he can't remember because A was in control of his body.
Most days I'm okay with the world assigning me my place, because I know what I really am. Some days, it is harder to call up the real me, so I may spend half the day thinking I really am just a slackster-wannabe-a-super-cool-mom-but-never-will-be-because-I-don't-know-how-to-walk-in-high-heels.
Those days suck.
Those days it's easier to believe I'd be happier with blue eyes. Blue eyes like my daughter.
A, I have so much to learn! I'm thankful there are authors like Levithan willing to push boundaries to help me learn to stretch my own.
 |
| Cover for ASHEN WINTER Available October 7, 2012 |
 |
| Paperback cover for ASHFALL |
They are simple, yet powerful.
They are beautiful.
Because I know the stories (and you should too - especially if you plan on surviving a super volcano eruption), I see subtle symbolism depicted on each cover. A casual reader might pick these books up thinking they are beautiful love stories (and they are), but Mike's books are about so much more than teen love.
Oh. So. Much. More.
The cover hints at what's inside, but to know it, you've got to read it.
When I got home, I surveyed the covers of some of my favorite books. I've currently got my books organized on the shelf according to the rainbow. Red spines together, then orange, then yellow . . . It drives my daughter nuts because books in a series don't always share the same spine colors.
To find all of the books in Lemony Snicket's A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, she's got to look through every last book on the shelf. Sometimes she emerges from her search with Snicket, but other times, something different will catch her eye. She'll respond to a cover image, pull the book onto her lap and begin to read.
She gets it from me. A good cover is essential. Probably helps explain why I'm having trouble switching over to an e-reader. I read books for the stories, but I buy them for the covers. Some people have beautiful paintings or sculptures. I'm a fan of beautiful books.
 |
| Original art covers always trump movie covers. Except this one. This one is cool. |
We shouldn't judge books by covers, we do. Or, at least, I do.
Books, homes, cities, dogs, colleagues, lovers, kids, and pretty much every other thing in the universe. Big and small, wrong or right we are constantly judging our world by a collective set of standards.
The rebels in the crowd are disagreeing with me now. That's cool. It's your judgement call.
 |
| Do not judge this book by its cover. Unless you like this cover, then by all means, rock that gavel. |
Thankfully, I opened the book and began to read. Turns out the story is exactly the kind I like.
Every day for sixteen years, A has woken in the body of a different person. The person is always the same age as A, but could be any gender, race, sexual orientation, body type, or socioeconomic status. A has no control over the choice of vessel, but has learned how to live quietly amongst these other lives.
Nomadic life is cool, until A meets Rhiannon. Rhiannon who wakes in the same body each day. Rhiannon who likes her unique name. Rhiannon who is kind. Rhiannon who believes she has spent the most romantic day with her boyfriend - even if he can't remember because A was in control of his body.
Before meeting Rhiannon, A never cared what the borrowed body looked like. But Rhiannon responds differently to A depending on the body. Some days it is easier for her to find A inside. Those are the days A's outer appearance matches more closely with Rhiannon's social expectations. A wakes with mixed emotions of guilt and relief one morning to find A's self back in a body Rhiannon will enjoy.
In a blog post, Every Day We Write the Book, on HuffPost Gay Voices, Levithan says while writing EVERY DAY he tried to imagine himself as a "pure self," never having been tied to a specific gender, body, race, or belief system. What would he be like if he had never learned to judge himself by other's standards?
Good question.
How attached am I to my cover - to the body that carries me around? Does it tell my whole story?
How often have I wished I could be in someone else's shoes? Oh, to have been born with those blue eyes I long for! I bet I'd be a hell of a lot awesomer with blue eyes.
Brown eyes are stupid.
Except on my son. His brown eyes are marvelous.
People tell me he has my eyes.
Hmmm . . .
Eye color aside, Mom always said it's what's on the inside that counts. But, I'm not comfortable letting many people know my pure self (including myself). So most of the people in my world categorize me by my cover.
Likewise, there are less than a handful of people who've trusted me enough to let me in. For everyone else, I've got to go by what I am aloud to see.
Most days I'm okay with the world assigning me my place, because I know what I really am. Some days, it is harder to call up the real me, so I may spend half the day thinking I really am just a slackster-wannabe-a-super-cool-mom-but-never-will-be-because-I-don't-know-how-to-walk-in-high-heels.
Those days suck.
Those days it's easier to believe I'd be happier with blue eyes. Blue eyes like my daughter.
A, I have so much to learn! I'm thankful there are authors like Levithan willing to push boundaries to help me learn to stretch my own.
This is a wonderful post! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThere are deeper meanings here, but on purely the book cover theme, I have read two books that I absolutely loved which had "bad" covers. We are, most of us judging by the cover most of the time.
"Even though the story contained inside the movie cover book was the one I'd asked for, he knew I wouldn't enjoy it half as much if it had the wrong cover."
ReplyDeleteTOTALLY agree with this! I'm obsessed with having original covers, and if the book cover isn't good, it puts me off the story.
"I'm not comfortable letting many people know my pure self ..." You basically just put out there in words the things I scream inside my head every day.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't even get me started on books with movie covers.