Here's a link to the author's thoughts http://xicanti.livejournal.com/173376.html and here's my letter http://blackteensread2.blogspot.com/2010/01/open-letter-to-bloomsbury-kids-usa.html

Thanks for blogging about this! I agree with Abby, why is Bloomsbury even doing this in the first place? Because they seem to think we won't buy books about poc, we have to show them that we will! I think the cover is really pretty actually, but it would have been even better with a dark-skinned model that was, ya'know, TRUE TO THE BOOK! Arghh and it's the same company. Why, why, why?

you would think after Pres. Obama being elected and Princess & The Frog, Bloomsbury would wake up. But oh no, they're stuck in the past!

I will be reading Magic Under Glass tommorrow before I chime in on my blog.

But as it stands now, really. WTF, Again. This is beyond old.

The UK cover is much better. Its more magicial.

Thanks for that link Ari - although she still doesn't say much in her comment other than this is what the industry did and there you go. Still a pretty bland response.

Doret, I love the UK cover also - it is much more unique and raises compelling questions about what the book might be about - it makes you want to pick it up. It also seems to dodge the issue of skin color without lying.

I look forward to your review!

Their thoughts are either:

1) "POC don't sell"
2) They don't think anyone will notice
3) The controversy this creates gets the book more notice

Or any combo therein. I'm not sure which I'd rather it be...

This one wasn't even a blip on my radar. I saw it come through the library and moved it along without a second thought. The funny thing is that had a POC been on the cover in the first place, I would have registered it, and possibly put it on my TBR. I've got way too many Teens Of Color not to pay attention to that.

I'm wondering -- and you kind of get at this, Colleen -- if this isn't a racism fail as much as it is a general cover fail at Bloomsbury. You're right in that many, many of their covers are photos of models, and that they all seem to blend together. Perhaps, what we should be calling for (in addition to specific cover changes) is a better cover art director at Bloomsbury? One who reads the books, perhaps?

The only matricide book I can think of is Julius Lester's When Dad Killed Mom, and I know nothing about it beyond the title (and a graphic opening that kept me from reading on).

As for the cover, I currently have nothing more profound to say than "oy." But I'm working on it.

Come on, I'm sure the author is excited about having her first book come out, and, I would think, anxious not to burn any bridges with her publisher. WE'RE the ones with nothing to lose here. I wouldn't care if she never said anything at all.

Colleen, when you say, "They really are not working at all and honestly seem to limit their audience more than broaden it," do you mean specifically Bloomsbury covers, or "photo realistic" covers in general?
In my middle school library, books with teen photo covers tend to be extremely popular. Maureen Johnson's books, for example, have a lot of cover appeal for girls. I saw Beacon Hill Boys by Ken Mochizuki (Asian American teen boy characters) jump in popularity after the photo-cover paperback came out.
The cover of Magic Under Glass is reminiscent of Great and Terrible Beauty and sequels, which have also been popular with my students. I agree with Jackie that with a non-white model on the cover (otherwise the same cover) it would have really stood out in the library.

I too, would like to say that the author ought not be held responsible for the cover. Authors frequently have little or no influence on the book design--or the title of publication for that matter. Dolamore says exactly that in her FAQ on her site. http://www.jaclyndolamore.com/

I'm with Wendy and Blythe Woolston. I hope that she doesn't say anything at all. If we say something, and if we boycott Bloomsbury, and if WE are the reason her book doesn't sell, Bloomsbury might feel just a little bit that they are responsible for screwing her. They might publish another book and they *might* do better by it. Any response to this that weakens the chances of an author to continue writing books with characters that have glossy black hair and brown skin seems to me to be very counter-productive.

I think that it makes a lot more sense for people to collect letters, real ones, on paper, from people who can say, "I read Libba Bray, and Justine Larbalestier and I am attracted to the story by Dolamare, but I wanted you to know that I am disappointed in the cover art. I would buy a book with a brown colored girl on it."

Can you get five thousand people to take the time to write that down, put a stamp on it and send it Bloomsbury?

I don't think the photo realistic covers are working for Bloomsbury in that they all look a lot alike. I know Maureen Johnson is popular (although I wish she had not fallen victim to the headless cover fad that ran rampant for a while - so weird) but Bloomsbury seems to have a lot of historicals out that all look exactly the same. To me, they just don't seem to stand out.

As to the author's responsibility, well, I'll ask you this. What if you wrote a book that had not one single female character in it and the pub told you that they were putting a girl on the cover? Would you just not say anything and consider yourself lucky to get published? Or how about you wrote a book about war - say, World War I - and it's all about the war from beginning to end and the pub tells you they are putting a unicorn on the cover. Would you still expect the author to say nothing? Would you blame him or her for being incensed? And yet if an author writes a book about a dark skinned protagonist and ends up with a Caucasian on the cover then we say she just had no choice, can't make any waves, has to say quiet. I understand that she might have no approval of the cover (although I still think this an archaic system that should change), but that does not prevent her from posting about her displeasure - a lot.

She might have had to accept the cover but she certainly doesn't have to be quiet about it.

Colleen,

Do we need a list of books in order to boycott? I just saw a tweet asking do I have a list.

Hell, I'm still reeling from ranting at every platform that let's me post. lol

According to Edi, the author has said something on her homepage.

Did you see my boycott button?

Sorry I didn't get her sooner. I was too busy being chastised for calling bloggers to task. Go figure.

I don't think either of your hypotheticals works. For one thing, while both situations would be stupid, they wouldn't be anything to GET incensed about. They aren't particularly offensive or damaging. For another... that wouldn't change my opinion at all. I'm not saying the author CAN'T make waves, HAS to stay quiet--none of us did. I'm saying that would be a fair choice. There can be repercussions in the publishing industry if an author makes a name for herself as a "problem". Even Larbalestier, who has a well-established career, was widely acknowledged as taking a risk when she spoke about the cover of Liar.

I have to say who ever did that review was either illiterate or confused!!!

There was a scene in the book were there were Fairies that were no longer alive that were under a glass...later in the book she throws the whole thing out a window.

BTW The term Whitewashing is derogatory word for racism. People who use it are no better them the act itself.

I don't know Wendy, if I wrote a book about a war and they put a unicorn on the cover I'd be pretty ticked off.

The point of they hypotheticals was to point out that there are authors all the time who get covers they don't like and they complain about them. They say things like "I wish it didn't have this cover", or "I hate the cover" or "The cover has nothing to do with the book", etc. That's the same thing that could be done in this case. Moving beyond this specific book, if any author is so scared of their publisher that they won't be honest about it (as in, "I think the cover was a bad idea") then really, are you kidding me?

What kind of relationship do you have with your publisher?

Susan I'm heading over to your site now. I honestly have no idea what the best idea is in this case as we never want to harm the author but the publishers need to wake up. At some point authors are just going to have to speak up also. (And really - why is it so damn hard to go with a cover that doesn't have a model on it at all????)

Characters on covers ought to look like the characters on the pages, end of story. Hopefully Bloomsbury and other publishers are belatedly getting the message via this outcry.

Thanks for sharing this. I'm a library student that wants to work with teens after I graduate and this is a very important issue--for everyone! This is something I am attempting to bring into my own blogging--more awareness of diversity in my reading selections, in covers, and in the stories themselves.