I spend a lot of my book-time reading children's books and YA.

[conuly]

I *like* children's books and YA. They're cheaper than grown-up fiction (I'd say adult like the adult I am, but somehow that means explicit and explicit has to do with sex. I hate the euphemism game sometimes!) and just as well-written - oftentimes they're *better* written if only because they're not busy cramming in multiple romantic subplots and gratuitous sex! (I have nothing against a well-written sex scene, mind you, but most of them don't advance the plot very much and are just awkward to read on the train or with my mom in the room.)

There's a trend recently for children's book covers to have silhouettes.

The first few times it was interesting and novel. Now - and it's only been a few years! - it's already tedious and overdone. I thought at first it was one publisher trying to set a new cover style for all their books, which would at least make sense, but a quick search shows me three different publishers for three different books, I stopped looking after that.

I don't get it at all. Why exactly did this become so popular, and when is it going to stop? Or if it isn't going to stop, when are people going to start doing something new with it?

*sighs*

At least the contents of the books are readable. (I need bookcases.)

Comments

[dragonwolf]

I like kid's/YA fiction better than grown-up fiction, too. :)

A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

I discussed this re a particular American YA novel with my brother a while ago. We thought it was so that the readers would not pass on the book which has non-white protagonists (which is one of the reasons cited by publishers when they put white people on the cover of such novels >_< ).

So maybe it's a general trend to allow more people of various ethnic backgrounds to see "themselves" on the cover. And to avoid putting non-white people on the cover and still maintain some semblance of PC-ness. :X I don't know, I try to think of a more charitable explanation, but...

Re: A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[conuly]

Except that almost all of the books only have white protagonists, as judging from the description within the books proper.

Re: A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Huh, then maybe this one was an exception!

Re: A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[conuly]

I think so.

In fact, I saw that same discussion (or another on the same topic) and felt like pointing it out but I was too lazy ultimately to do so.

Re: A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Probably another on the same topic because this particular discussion took place in my living room ;]

Re: A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[conuly]

I guess now is not the time to tell you about my sooper sekrit satellite powerz.

Re: A "PC" variant on whitewashing?

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have just the icon for that! ;D

[redbird]

In discussions of covers on science fiction/fantasy/genre books, one thing that comes up is that the cover is a quick signal "this is the kind of book you're looking for." So if, say, a fairy-tale retelling with a cover by a particular artist does well, that artist is likely to be hired for the next seven books that are sort of in that style. Over in mystery, police procedurals tend to look different from amateur detective stories in which the protagonist is a chef or painter.

There are good and bad aspects to this: it makes it easier to find some of what you're looking for, but less likely to wander out of narrow subgenres. (The discussion of this at Farthing Party featured the same person starting by getting annoyed at someone who suggested that this was too narrowing, and ending by encouraging people to take a chance on books that look different. No, we don't just want everything labeled only by title and author, or alphabetically by author within sections for each publisher, but that doesn't mean the current marketing-driven system is ideal. Evolution tends to local optima.)

[conuly]

In discussions of covers on science fiction/fantasy/genre books, one thing that comes up is that the cover is a quick signal "this is the kind of book you're looking for." So if, say, a fairy-tale retelling with a cover by a particular artist does well, that artist is likely to be hired for the next seven books that are sort of in that style. Over in mystery, police procedurals tend to look different from amateur detective stories in which the protagonist is a chef or painter.

That's a good point.