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Notable YA Covers of 2025
Published January 13, 2026

Notable YA Covers of 2025

Happy New Year! I hope you’re keeping safe and well.

I just re-read the introduction to my 2024 YA post and it says pretty much everything I was going to say about young adult covers this time around too, which is a bit annoying! There are still plenty of great covers this year, but trends sometimes move slowly, and it does make me worry that these posts are getting a little stale and predictable.

As with the previous couple of years, almost all of my 2025 selections are illustrated. Looking at original cover art and discovering new illustrators is definitely one of the joys of collating these post. It does make me wonder though, if the illustrations are thing, should I broaden the scope of the posts to include other categories to freshen things up?

I can see both sides.

YA cover designers and illustrators do not get a lot of attention despite all the cover reveals and special deluxe editions (not to mention book sales). I have been doing YA specific lists because no one else has been.

That said, the lines between categories and age-groups are blurred. I actually had to delete a couple of covers from this post because they were for SFF novels that were not strictly YA. I couldn’t tell from the covers. I only realized when I looked up the details. It happened last year too. Including other age groups would allow me to include illustrated science fiction, fantasy, and romance covers that also tend to get overlooked outside of their fan communities. But it would probably mean a bit less YA.

What to do?

Thanks again for all your support over the past year. I hope your still enjoying the posts, but please let me know if you have thoughts or additional design credits. I’d love to hear from you.

After Life by Gayle Forman; design by Laura Mock; illustration by Agata Wierzbicka (Quill Tree Books / January 2025)

Always Be My Bibi by Priyanka Taslim; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Shazleen Khan (Salaam Reads / June 2025)

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyn Yun; design by Trisha Previte; cover art by Yejin Park (Knopf BYR / October 2025)

Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland, translated by Rosie Hedger; design by John Gall (Levine Querido / April 2025)

Before I realized that Beasts was actually a young adult novel, I included this in my round-up of last year’s adult covers. Now that I know that it’s a book for teens, I think it’s only appropriate to include here too in its proper context. It’s a great cover that stands out in both lists.

Break Wide the Sea by Sara Holland; design by Kerri Resnick and Anto Marr; illustration by Zach Meyer (Wednesday Books / November 2025)

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum; design by Corina Lupp; art by Mishko (HarperCollins / April 2025)

A Feast for the Eyes by Alex Crespo; design by Lily Steele; cover art by Riotbones (Peachtree Teen / October 2025)

The Floating World by Axie Oh; design by Rich Deas; art by Guweiz (Feiwel & Friends / April 2025)

A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux; design by David Curtis; art by Alex Eckman-Lawn (Quill Tree Books / June 2025)

The Girl You Know by Elle Gonzalez Rose; design by Amanda Hudson / Faceout Studio (Bloomsbury YA / February 2025)

Goodbye, My Princess by Fei Wo Si Cun, translated by Tianshu; design by Laurent Linn; illustration by Zijing (Simon & Schuster BYR / June 2025)

Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause; cover art by Welder Wings (Peachtree Teen / September 2025)

Hazelthorn by CG Drews; design by Meg Sayre; illustration by Jana Heidersdorf (Feiwel & Friends / October 2025)

The cover of Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews from the same creative pair was on last year’s list.

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang; design by Alex Niit; cover art by Kim Myatt (HarperCollins / January 2025)

I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins; design by Sophie Erb; cover art by Aykut Aydoğdu (Viking BYR / March 2025)

I Can’t Even Think Straight by Dean Atta; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Adriana Bellet (Quill Tree Books / May 2025)

If We Survive This by Racquel Marie; design by Abby Granata; illustration by Nicole Rifkin (Feiwel & Friends / June 2025)

In Case You Read This by Edward Underhill; design by David DeWitt; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Quill Tree Books / May 2025)

Kill Creatures by Rory Power; illustration by Kei-Ella Loewe; art direction by Liz Dresner (Delacorte Press / June 2025)

The cover of Wilder Girls by Rorie Power, designed by Regina Flath with art by Aykut Aydoğdu, was on my notable list way back in 2019.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power; design by Regina Flath; art by Aykut Aydogdu (Delacorte / July 2019)

Knucklehead by Tony Keith Jr.; design David Curtis (Quill Tree Books / February 2025)

Leave it on the Track by Margot Fisher cover art by Beatriz Ramo (Dutton BYR / November 2025)

Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue by Kate Pearsall; design by Jessica Jenkins; illustration by Imogen Oh (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR / January 2025)

This goes very nicely with their cover from a couple of year’s ago for Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall.

Mercy by Patricia Ward; design by Catherine Lee (HarperCollins / October 2025)

Messy by Tanya Boteju; design by David DeWitt; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Quill Tree Books / April 2025)

The Moss by Lisa Lueddecke; design by Sarah Creech; art by Yorgos Cotronis (Simon & Schuster BYR / September 2025)

Night Swimming by Aaron Starmer; cover art by Dana Lédl (Penguin Workshop / April 2025)

Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales; design and illustration by Jenifer Prince (Wednesday Books / June 2025)

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller; design by Casey Moses; cover art by Jon Stich (Levine Querido / May 2025)

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven; cover art by Kelly Chong (Penguin / February 2025)

This is the UK cover. The cover of the US edition published by Wednesday Books was designed by Olga Grlic.

The Payback Girls by Alex Travis; design by Aarushi Menon (Sourcebooks Fire / April 2025)

Season of Fear by Emily Cooper; design Jenny Kimura; illustration by Chris Mrozik (Christy Ottaviano Books / September 2025)

Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman; design by Casey Moses; illustration by Elena Masci (Delacorte Press / November 2025)

Show Stopper by Lily Anderson; design and illustration by Keith Vlahakis (Henry Holt & Co. BYR / September 2025)

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan; design by Kelley Brady; illustration by Jeff Östberg (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR / May 2025)

I think this is the third Jennifer Dugan novel with Jeff Östberg‘s art on the cover?

They Bloom At Night by Trang Thanh Tran; design by John Candell; art by Elena Masci (Bloomsbury YA / March 2025)

The cover of She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, which also features art by Elena Masci, was included in my list in 2023.

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah; design by Olga Grlic; art by Marcela Boliva (Wednesday Books / February 2025)

Wish You Were Her by Elle McNicoll; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Marianna Tomaselli (Wednesday Books / August 2025)

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Leguin; design by Joe Merkel; art by Fred Fordham (Clarion Books / March 2025)

Woven From Clay by Jenny Birch; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Jorge Mascarenhas (Wednesday Books / August 2025)

You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao; design by Theresa Evangelista; illustration by Zipcy (Dutton BYR / September 2025)

I believe this is third Dustin Thao novel with a cover illustration by Zipcy, although I think the previous two were designed by Kerri Resnick for Wednesday Books.

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Book Covers of Note, June 2025
Published June 26, 2025

Book Covers of Note, June 2025

It’s been another busy month here, so apologies for the slightly scattered post. It includes a few covers that I missed earlier in early in the year, and a few other bits and pieces. I hope everyone is doing OK. Here are the covers…

Audition by Pip Adam; cover art by Leopold Adi Surya (Coffee House Press / June 2025)

It looks like this was actually the cover of the editions originally available in New Zealand and Australia in 2023, so apologies for being so late to it.

Bad Animals by Sarah Braunstein; design Oliver Munday (W. W. Norton / February 2025)

Bear Witness by Ross Halperin; design by David Litman (Liveright / May 2025)

They are obviously very, very different books, but the cover Bear Witness reminded me of the cover for Going Home by Tom Lamont designed by Jared Bartman published by Knopf earlier this year.

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan; design by Rachel Ake (Dial Press / May 2025)

Everybody Says It’s Everything by Xhenet Aliu; design Eli Mock (Random House / March 2025)

Flashlight by Susan Choi; design by June Park (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2025)

I had almost forgotten that I did a little post about sideways covers 10 years ago(!). It could be time for a new one?

Girls with Long Shadows by Tennessee Hill; design Robin Bilardello (Harper / May 2025)

Are green covers with pink type a thing now? There’s also the cover of All the Parts We Exile by Roza Nozari designed by Lisa Jager for Knopf Canada which came out in February…

The Island by Antigone Kefala; design by Sarah Schulte (Transit Books / June 2025)

Another (mostly) green cover, with some pink type here!

Sarah’s (also mostly green with some pink!) cover for Rosa Mistika by Euphrase Kezilahabi, published this month by Yale University Press, also caught my eye, but I couldn’t source a hi-res image for it in time for the post…

Kill Creatures by Rory Power; illustration by Kei-Ella Loewe; art direction by Liz Dresner (Delacorte Press / June 2025)

The Longest Way to Eat a Melon by Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross; design by Emily Mahon (Sarabande Books / June 2025)

Both this and the cover for Disappoint Me were featured in a New York Times piece about recent books that are part of a painting + bold sans-serif cover trend.

The Longest Way to Eat a Melon is also an addition to the yellow type trend. The cover of The Slip by Miriam Webster designed by Typography Studio, out next month in Australia from Aniko Press, hits both trends too… (Do paintings of animals count as a separate trend from painting of people?)

Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel; design by Jack Smyth (HarperVia / May 2025)

Participatory Culture Wars by Simone Driessen, Bethan Jones and Benjamin Litherland; design by Ashley Muehlbauer (University of Iowa Press / June 2025)

This made me think of transferring newspaper print with pink silly putty, which probably hasn’t been possible for decades. I am ancient and made of dust.

Spine Magazine has brought back its round-up of recent university press covers too if you’re interested.

The Pawn by Paco Cerdà; design by Emily Mahon (Deep Vellum / June 2025)

Rytual by Chloe Elisabeth Wilson; design by Design by Committee (Penguin Australia / May 2025)

Separate Rooms by Pier Vittorio Tondelli; design Elena Giavaldi (Zando / April 2025)

The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2025)

I think this cover was originally used for the Swedish edition so technically it is also from 2023. (Finger on the pulse over here… )

The Slip by Lucas Schaeffer; design by Jack Smyth (Simon & Schuster / June 2025)

Tank by Mark Urban; design by Chris Bentham (Penguin / June 2025)

I love the “does what it says on the tin” literalness of both the title and image here.

UnWorld by Jason Greene; design by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / June 2025)

Valencia by Michelle Tea; design by Megan Grace (Profile / June 2025)

Let me know if you recognize the photo / photographer and I’ll add the credit.

The photograph is by photographer Chloe Sherman from her project Renegades: San Francisco, the 1990s, which is now available as book from Hatje Cantz.

Weepers by Peter Mendelsund; design by Thom Colligan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2025)

This reminded me of the cover of The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane designed by Na Kim for FSG a few years ago (the colour palette of which is similar to a lot of Na’s paintings funnily enough!).

Peter Mendelsund‘s memoir/monograph Exhibitionist is available from Catapult this month too. I think Peter designed the cover for this one himself (with Corbusier inspired stencil type?).

The Washington Post recently toured Peter’s apartment and talked to him about the book.

Work Nights by Erica Peplin; design by Holly Ovenden (Gallery Books / June 2025)

This is giving me Claes Oldenburg vibes. (Is there someone who paints photorealistic donuts? There is probably is).

Are donut covers a thing? Can we make them a thing?

Piglet by Lottie Hazell; design Beci Kelly (Transworld / January 2024)

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Notable YA Covers of 2024
Published January 5, 2025

Notable YA Covers of 2024

Happy New Year! I hope you’re keeping safe and well. The first post of the year is the now customary look back at the previous year’s Young Adult covers. All the covers on this year’s list are illustrated (which was almost, but not quite, the case last year too). I love illustration — it’s part of the reason why I still keep doing these posts! — so it’s possible that this just reflects my personal preferences, but almost all the YA covers I saw this year were illustrated. There were very few photographic or type/letter-only covers. 

I compile this list a little differently to my adult list. It’s mostly done over a few weeks at the end of the year rather than compiled across the year as a whole. I’m sure this skews my selections too. I’m probably overly reliant on cover reveal posts and best of the year lists. I think this probably means that the big American publishers are over-represented, which is less than ideal. I suspect they’re dominant in the category anyway, but I’m sure I am missing some interesting covers from independent and international publishers all the same.

The Horror and Fantasy seem to be having a moment. The line between YA and adult covers seems very blurred in both genres. I had to double-check a number to titles to confirm where they belonged. It happened often enough for me to think it was intentional, which probably speaks to who is reading YA and what they are looking for. It is also possible that I am over-indexing both genres here because they seem more mature and they appeal to me personally. I am also less of a fan of the illustration styles popular for the romance genres at the moment, so I think it’s fair to say they are under-represented on the list. I am very aware that I am not the target audience, so I’m not sure it is something that should overly worry art directors (although apologies if you’re disappointed not to see more of your covers on the list!). Still, it might be nice to see some new / different approaches to Romance — and all genres, frankly — going forward.

And with that, I wish you all the best for 2025, and I hope you enjoy the post!

Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley; design by Joel Tippie; art by Katya Murysina (Katherine Tegen Books / June 2024)

Bad Like Us by Gabriella Lepore; design and illustration by Julian D. Paulsen (Inkyard Press / March 2024)

Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo by Adam Cesare; design Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Matt Ryan Tobin (HarperTeen / August 2024)

I think this is my favourite cover from the series thus far, but the covers of the original Clown in a Cornfield from 2020, and the second book Frendo Lives from 2022, are also very creepy.

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi; design by Samira Iravani; art by Lola Idowu (Henry Holt / June 2024)

The previous two books in the series, Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance, were in my 2018 and 2019 lists respectively, although they have a different designer and different illustrators.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi; design Richard Deas (Henry Holt / March 2018)
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi; design by Richard Deas, Mallory Grigg, and Kathleen Breitenfeld; art by Sarah Jones (Henry Holt / December 2019)

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White; design and illustration by Evangeline Gallagher (Peachtree Teen / September 2024)

The cover of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White was on last year’s list.

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White; design and illustration by Evangeline Gallagher (Peachtree Teen / September 2024)
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White; illustration by Evangeline Gallagher (Peachtree Teen / September 2023)

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Yejin Park (Feiwel & Friends / May 2024)

The covers of June Hur’s books The Silence of Bones and The Forest of Stolen Girls were on the 2020 and 2021 lists respectively, again with different designers and illustrators.

The Silence of Bones by June Hur; design by Katie Klimowicz; art by Kasiq Jungwoo (Feiwel & Friends / April 2020)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur; illustration Pedro Tapa (Feiwel & Friends / April 2021)

Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews; design by Meg Sayre; art by Jana Heidersdorf (Feiwel & Friends / October 2024)

Dust by Alison Stine; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Annabelle Ariane (Wednesday Books / December 2024)

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow; design by Casey Moses; art by Victo Ngai (Delacorte Press / August 2024)

The cover of the UK edition of The Girl With No Reflection published by Hodder & Stoughton was designed by Micaela Alcaino.

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao; design by Terri Nimmo; art by Ashley Mackenzie (Tundra / December 2024)

The cover of Iron Widow, the previous book in the series, was on the 2021 list.

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao; design by Terri Nimmo; art by Ashley Mackenzie (Tundra / December 2024)
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao; design by Talia Abramson; illustration Ashley Mackenzie (Penguin Teen / September 2021)

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright; design by Corina Lupp; art by Christin Engelberth (Harperteen / March 2024)

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadettes by Hanna Alkaf; design by Leo Nickolls (Simon & Schuster BFYR / September 2024)

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland; design by Theresa Evangelista; art by Aykut Aydoğdu (Nancy Paulsen Books / January 2024)

Kindling by Traci Chee; design by Kathy H. Lam; art by Kiuyan Ran (HarperCollins / February 2024)

The cover of A Thousand Steps into the Night by Traci Chee was on the 2022 list with a different art style.

Kindling by Traci Chee; design by Kathy H. Lam; art by Kiuyan Ran (HarperCollins / February 2024)
A Thousand Steps into the Night by Traci Chee; design by Celeste Knudsen; art by Kotaro Chiba (Clarion Books / March 2022)

Made Glorious by Lindsay Eager; design by Maria T. Middleton; art by Deena So’Oteh (Candlewick / April 2024)

I missed the cover of The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar last year, but it’s also delightfully creepy. The art is by Elena Masci, and I believe the designer is Matt Roeser.

Made Glorious by Lindsay Eager; design by Maria T. Middleton; art by Deena So’Oteh (Candlewick / April 2024)
The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eagar; design Matt Roeser; art by Elena Masci (Candlewick / March 2023)

Merciless Saviors by H. E. Edgmon; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Elena Masci (Wednesday Books / April 2024)

Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee; design by Liz Dresner; art by Priscilla Kim (Delacorte Press / June 2024)

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa; design by Samira Iravani; art by Marlowe Lune (Feiwel & Friends / January 2024)

Night Owls A. R. Vishny; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Zach Meyer (HarperCollins / September 2024)

Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner; design by Liz Dresner; art by Zoë van Dijk (Delacorte Press / September 2024)

The Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Giuditta Bertoni (Wednesday / March 2024)

Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith; design by Liz Dresner; art by Marcela Bolivar (Delacorte Press / July 2024)

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino; design by Rosie Stewart; art by Tristan Elwell (Page Street YA / February 2024)

A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat; design by Trisha Previte; art by Zoë van Dijk (Delacorte Press / January 2024)

Prince of Fortune by Lisa Tirreno; design by Rebecca Syracuse; art by Serena Archetti (Atheneum BFYR / October 2024)

Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken; design Liz Dresner; art Tomasz Majewski (Ember / May 2024)

This is actually the paperback of the first title in series. The new cover matches the latest book, released in July, The Mirror of Beasts.

Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken; design Liz Dresner; art Tomasz Majewski (Ember / May 2024)
The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken; design Liz Dresner; art Tomasz Majewski (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / July 2024)

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole; design by Jenny Kimura; art by Taj Francis (Little, Brown BFYR / January 2024)

So Witches We Became by Jill Baguchinsky; design Jenny Kimura; art by Marco Mazzoni (Little, Brown BFYR / July 2024)

Songs of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin; design by Rich Deas; art by Sija Hong (Feiwel & Friends / July 2024)

The cover of A Magic Steeped in Poison and it’s sequel A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin were on 2022’s list.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin; design by Rich Deas; art by Sija Hong (Feiwel & Friends / March 2022)
A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I Lin; design by Rich Deas; art by Sija Hong (Feiwel & Friends / August 2022)

Stranger Skies by Pascale Lacelle; design by Greg Stadnyk (Margaret K. McElderry Books / November 2024)

The cover of Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle was on last year’s list.

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle; design by Greg Stadnyk; illustration by Signum Noir (Margaret K. McElderry Books / October 2023)

Sunrise Nights by Jeff Zentner & Brittany Cavallaro; design Laura Mock; art by Hokyoung Kim (Quill Tree Books / July 2024)

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury; design by Greg Stadnyk; art by Elena Masci (Margaret K. McElderry Books / February 2024)

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Valentina Remenar (Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR / February 2024)

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang; design by Regina Flath; art by Sija Hong (Del Rey Books / April 2024)

To The Bone by Alena Bruzas; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Adam Parata (Rocky Pond Books / September 2024)

Twenty- Four Seconds From Now by Jason Reynolds; design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian; art by Daniel Egnéus (Atheneum Books / October 2024)

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis; design by David Curtis; art by Corey Brickley (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2024)

The cover of The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis (and re-jacketed backlist) were on the 2022 list.

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis; design by David Curtis; art by Corey Brickley (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2024)
The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Corey Brickley (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2022)

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Peter Strain (Wednesday Books / December 2024)

I was sure I had included the covers forThe Dead and the Dark and Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould illustrated by Peter Strain in previous lists, but apparently I hadn’t. They’re really nice:

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé; design by Elizabeth Clark; art by Aykut Aydoğdu (Feiwel & Friends / March 2024)

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Published January 8, 2021

Notable YA Covers of 2020

My first post of 2021 is a look back at some of the young adult covers that caught my eye last year. I’m sure that I have missed a lot of great work (waves hands at everything that went on in 2020), so apologies if your favourites aren’t here. Happy New Year!

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams; design by Marcie Lawrence and Jenny Kimura; illustration by Tom Bagshaw (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers / June 2020)

All Our Worst Ideas by Vicky Skinner; design by Katie Klimowicz (Swoon Reads / August 2020)

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson; design by Theresa Evangelista; illustration by Stephanie Singleton (Nancy Paulsen Books / September 2020)

Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir; design by Regina Flath; illustration by Jen Bartel (Random House Books for Young Readers / December 2020)

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown; design by Carol Ly; illustration by Noa Denmon (Henry Holt & Company / January 2020)

The Burning by Laura Bates; design by Philip Pascuzzo (Sourcebooks Fire / April 2020)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas; design Liz Dresner; illustration by Mars Lauderbaugh (Swoon Reads / September 2020)

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Bijou Karman (Quill Tree Books / May 2020)

Cloak of Night by Evelyn Skye; design by Alice Wang; illustration by DOFRESH; lettering by Vasava (Balzer + Bray / February 2020)

Coming Up For Air by Nicole B. Tyndall; design by Casey Moses; art by Pedro Tapa (Delacorte Press / December 2020)

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Dial / August 2020)

The same team also created the cover for Darius the Great is Not Okay:

The Easy Part of Impossible by Sarah Tomp; design by David DeWitt; art by Samantha French (HarperTeen / April 2020)

Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri; art direction by Elizabeth Parisi; illustration by David Curtis (Levine Querido / August 2020)

Fable by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; photograph by Sveltana Belyaeva (Wednesday Books / September 2020)

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender; design by Chris Kwon; illustration by Alex Cabal (Balzer + Bray / May 2020)

Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee; design by Laura Benton; illustration by Charlie Bowater (Page Street Kids / June 2020)

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez; design by Laura Williams; illustration by Rachelle Baker (Algonquin Young Readers / September 2020)

The Good Girls by Claire Eliza Bartlett; design Diana Sousa; Illustration by Kaethe Butcher (HarperTeen / December 2020)

Goodbye from Nowhere by Sara Zarr; design by Alice Wang (Balzer + Bray / April 2020)

Grief Angels by David Owen; design by Leo Nickolls (Atom / March 2020)

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Rachelle Baker (Katherine Tegen Books / September 2020)

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke; cover art by Karl J Mountford (Chicken House / April 2020)

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke; cover art by Karl J Mountford (Chicken House / April 2020)
Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke; cover art by Karl J Mountford (Chicken House / April 2020)

It’s My Life by Stacie Ramey; design by Kerri Resnick (Sourcebooks Fire / January 2020)

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; illustration by David Curtis (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers / March 2020)

Lobizona by Romina Garber; design by Kerri Resnick; illustation by Daria Hlazatova (Wednesday Books / August 2020)

Nobody Knows But You by Anica Mrose Rissi; design by Molly Fehr; illustration by Hokyoung Kim (Quill Tree Books / September 2020)

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles; design by Molly Fehr; illustration by Jor Ros (Quill Tree Books / January 2020)

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky; design by Cassie Gonzalez; illustration by Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / November 2020)

Seasons of the Storm by Elle Cosimano; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Pauline Boiteux (HarperTeen / June 2020)

See No Color by Shannon Gibney; design by Chelsea Hunter; illustration by Bee Johnson (Holiday House / July 2020)

Shielded by KayLynn Flanders; design by Regina Flath; art by Alex Dos Diaz (Delacorte / July 2020)

The Silence of Bones by June Hur; design by Katie Klimowicz; art by Kasiq Jungwoo (Feiwel & Friends / April 2020)

Smash It by Francina Simone; design by Gigi Lau; illustration by Benjamin Wachenje (Inkyard Press / September 2020)

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown; design by Jessie Gang; art by Tawny Chatmon; lettering by Martina Flor (Balzer + Bray / June 2020)

The Stepping Off Place by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum; design by Catherine San Juan; Illustration by Michaela Goade (Quill Tree Books / July 2020)

The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee; design by Chloë Foglia; Illustration by Pedro Tapa; lettering by Danielle Davis (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / June 2020)

Ten Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon; design by Sarah Creech; photograph by Jacob Pritchard (Simon Pulse / July 2020)

I think this works well with the covers for Menon’s previous books, especially 2017’s When Dimple Met Rishi, designed by Regina Flath.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / May 2017)

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherin Laurin; design Elita Sidiropoulou (Inkyard Press / September 2020)

This is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes; design by Alice Wang; illustration by Francesco Bongiorni (HarperTeen / November 2020)

Tigers Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry; design Laura Williams; art and lettering by Beatriz Ramo / Naranjalidad (Algonquin Young Readers / March 2020)

Traitor by Amanda McCrina; design by Faceout Studio (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / August 2020)

Watch Over Me by Nina Lacour; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Pippa Young (Dutton / September 2020)

The Whitsun Daughters by Carrie Mesrobian ; design by Samira Iravani; lettering by Maricor/Maricar (Dutton / August 2020)

A Wicked Magic by Sasha Laurens; design by Dana Li (Razorbill / July 2020)

Winter, White and Wicked by Shannon Dittemore; design by Hana Anouk Nakamura; illustration by Ruben Ireland (Amulet / October 2020)

The Year After You by Nina de Pass; design Casey Moses; art by Elena Pancorbo (Delacorte / March 2020)

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Published February 14, 2019

Book Covers of Note February 2019

Thanks to the weather cancelling everything, I’m not horrendously late with this month’s covers post!


All the Lives We Ever Lived by Katharine Smyth; design by Michael Morris (Crown / January 2019)


Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James; cover art by Pablo Gerardo Camacho (Riverhead / February 2019)


Consent by Leo Benedictus; design by Alex kirby (Faber & Faber / February 2019)


The Current by Tim Johnston; design by Pete Garceau (Algonquin / January 2019)

You can read about the icy process behind this cover at Spine Magazine. 


The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay; design by Kelly Winton (Grove / January 2019)


The Five by Hallie Rubenhold; design by Jo Thomson (Transworld / February 2019)

I like this jacket a lot, but it’s what’s under it that really caught my eye:

The whole package looks great:


Golden State by Ben H. Winters; design by Gregg Kulick (Mulholland Books / January 2019)

The cover of Ben H. Winters previous novel Underground Airlines, also published by Mulholland Books, was designed by Oliver Munday:

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters; design by Oliver Munday (Mulholland Books / July 2016)
Golden State by Ben H. Winters; design by Gregg Kulick (Mulholland Books / January 2019)


Good Enough by Jen Petro-Roy; design by Liz Dresner; cover art by art Romy Blümel (Feiwel & Friends / February 2019)


Hold Still by Nina LaCour; design Samira Iravani; cover art by Adams Carvalho (Penguin / February 2019)

This is, of course, the same creative team behind the cover for We Are OK by Nina LaCour:

We Are Okay by Nina Lacour; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Dutton / February 2017)


Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli; design by Jennifer Carrow (Knopf / February 2019)

The cover for the UK edition of Lost Children Archive, published by Fourth Estate, was designed by Jo Walker: 


Muscle by Alan Trotter; design by Gray318 (Faber & Faber / February 2019)


Never Enough by Judith Grisel; design by Emily Mahon (Doubleday / February 2019)


The Peacock Feast by Lisa Gornick; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2019)


Sick-Note Britain by Adrian Massey; design by Steve Leard (Hurst / February 2019)


Tentacle by Rita Indiana; design by Steve Marsden (And Other Stories / January 2019)


Thick by Tressie McMillan Cotton; design by Oliver Munday (The New Press / January 2019)

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