Tag: YA

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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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Notable YA Covers of 2023

Published January 17, 2024

Notable YA Covers of 2023

Happy New Year! I hope you’re safe and well. As is now the tradition, the first post of the year is a look back at some of the young adult covers of last year. The usual caveats apply of course. Not much YA crosses my desk at work, which is mostly indie publishing, and it is not a category I follow closely apart from what my kids are reading, so my insight here is limited. Still, I think at some of the stuff I wrote about the industry in my 2023 post on adult covers probably holds true for YA too. The toll of the past few years has led to a certain amount of risk aversion from both publishers and designers (albeit for different reasons), and my sense is that folks are bracing for more of the same in 2024. I would guess that genre expectations within the broader YA category have limited the room for experimentation too. Some things need to look the same it seems. But even if there is some conservatism in the current design approaches (if it ain’t broke…), and things in general feel pretty grim, there is a remarkable amount of diversity and representation on the covers of YA books — and perhaps even among the designers and illustrators themselves — and that feels like something that should be celebrated. I’ve tried my best to get all the credits for the covers, but please let me know if I missed anyone out — I’ll be happy to update the post where necessary.

All That’s Left To Say by Emery Lord; art direction by Jeanette Levy; illustration by Adele Leyris (Bloomsbury YA / July 2023)

All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyer; design by Micah Fleming; illustration by Rachelle Baker (Harry N. Abrams / September 2023)

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Max Reed (Wednesday Books / May 2023)

Champion of Fate by Kendare Blake; design by David Curtis; art by Tomasz Majewski (Quill Tree Books / September 2023)

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

Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi; design by Greg Stadnik; illustration by Laylie Frazier (Atheneum Books for Young Readers / February 2023)

A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen; design by Greg Stadnik; illustration by Bose Collins (Margaret K. McElderry Books / March 2023)

Ever Since by Alena Bruzas; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Suzanne Dias (Rocky Pond Books / May 2023)

Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni; design by Corina Lupp; illustration by Otesanya (Balzer & Bray / September 2023)

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell; design by Catherine Lee; illustration by Yejin Park (Harperteen / March 2023)

The Girl Next Door by Cecilia Vinesse; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Tomasz Majewski (Quill Tree Books / May 2023)

Goddess Crown by Shade Lapite; design by Maria T. Middleton; art by Jeff Manning (Walker Books / September 2023)

Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim; art direction by Angela Carlino; art by Tran Nguyen; lettering by Alix Northrup (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers / August 2023)

Tran Nguyen and Alix Northrup also worked on the covers for Elizabeth Lim’s previous books Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon’s Promise, which appeared on the 2021 and 2022 lists respectively.

A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Page O’Brien; design by Micah Fleming; illustration by Corey Brickley (Harry N. Abrams / September 2023)

This is the first of many covers featuring Corey Brickley’s lovely work on the list!

I feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea; design by Kathleen Breitenfeld; art by Rich Deas; lettering by Jordan Metcalf (Henry Holt BYR / August 2023)

I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu; design by Laura Eckes (Simon & Schuster BYR / March 2023)

Immortality by Dana Schwartz; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Zach Meyer (Wednesday Books / February 2023)

The cover for Anatomy by Dana Schwartz was on last year’s list. I wonder what vital organ shaped dress we will get next?

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee; design by Kirk Benshoff; art by Deb JJ Lee (First Second / March 2023)

Invisible Son by Kim Johnson; art by Chuck Styles (Random House BYR / June 2023)

The Isle of the Gods by Amie Kaufman; design Angela Carlino; art by Aykut Aydoğdu (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / May 2023)

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst; design by Catherine Lee; illustration by Elena Masci (Harperteen / April 2023)

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan; design by Kelley Brady; illustration by Michael Rogers (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR / August 2023)

Coincidentally these two covers combined would have a complete face…

Never a Hero by Vanessa Len; design by Jessie Gang; art by Eevien Tan (Harperteen / August 2023)

The cover for Only a Monster by Vanessa Len was also on last year’s list.

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Nettrice Gaskins (Balzer & Bray / May 2023)

Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin; design by Katie Klimowicz (Tor Nightfire / June 2023)

(Technically this isn’t YA, it’s categorized as “Fiction / Coming of Age,” but I figure there’s crossover here so I’m including it anyway)

The Only Girl in Town by Ally Condie; design by Theresa Evangelista (Dutton BYR / September 2023)

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen; design by Rich Deas; art by M.S. Corley (Henry Holt / May 2023)

Rook by William Ritter; design by Laura Williams; illustration by Corey Brickley (Algonquin YR / August 2023)

Algonquin also reissued the whole Jackaby series in paperback with new covers to match:

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker; design by Kathleen Oudit & Gigi Lau; photography Lillian Liu (Inkyard Press / October 2023)

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran; design by Thy Bui; illustration by Elena Masci (Bloomsbury YA / Feburary 2023)

Something Like Possible by Miel Moreland; design by Julia Bianchi; illustration by Bex Glendining (Feiwel & Friends / May 2023)

The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk; design by David Curtis (Quill Tree Books / October 2023)

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

Evangeline Gallagher also provided the cover illustration for Andrew Joseph White’s previous book Hell Followed With Us.

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; illustration by Corey Brickley (Razorbill / May 2023)

The Twenty-One by Elizabeth Rusch; design by Paul Zakris; illustration by Will Staehle (Greenwillow Books / September 2023)

The Voice Upstairs by Laura E. Weymouth; design by Debra Sfetsios-Conover; illustration by Marcela Bolivar (Margaret K. McElderry Books / October 2023)

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley; design by Rich Deas; art by Michaela Goade (Henry Holt / May 2023)

Where There’s Smoke by E. B. Vickers; design by Ray Shappell (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / December 2023)

Wise Creatures by Deirdre Sullivan; design by Nick Stearn; illustration by Corey Brickley (Hot Key Books / September 2023)

Zhara by S. Jae-Jones; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Sija Hong (Wednesday Books / August 2023)

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Published January 19, 2023

Notable YA Covers of 2022

I should, at this point, rename this post “Young Adult Book Covers I Saw Last Year, Quite Liked, and Could Find Some Credits For.” It would be accurate.

December turned out to be really busy. It is every year. I’m not sure why it still catches me out. That said, 2022 did seem to be especially busy for reasons far, far too boring to get into here (yes, I got sick amongst other things).

I had thought, in fact, that it might be time to retire this particular annual post. But then I looked around to see what other YA cover lists had been posted and… well, it wasn’t great. If I don’t do it, who will?

This year’s list — like last year’s — is full of illustrated covers. It seems to be the dominant trend, and I would really like someone more knowledgeable than me to profile some of the illustrators and put their work in its proper context. Maybe there is an art book in it for an enterprising publisher, if there isn’t one already? There are so many great covers from the past couple of years to choose from. 1

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this very late look at some of the YA covers of 2022. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson; design by Alison Impey; art by Spiros Halaris (Delacorte Press / May 2022)

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin; art by Jason Griffin (Atheneum Books / January 2022)

Anatomy by Dana Schwartz; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Zach Meyer (Wednesday Books / January 2022)

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh; art by David Curtis (Little, Brown BYR / September 2022)

Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty; design by Veronica Mang; art by Sasha Vinogradova (Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR / June 2022)

The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian; design by Corina Lupp; art by Natalie Shaw (Balzer & Bray / February 2022)

Cursed by Marissa Meyer; design by Rich Deas; art by Tim O’Brien (Feiwel & Friends / November 2022)

The same creative team produced the cover of Gilded by Marissa Meyer published last year:

The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim; design by Alison Impey; art by Tran Nguyen; lettering by Alix Northrup (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / August 2022)

The cover of Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim was on last year’s list.

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones; design by Jenny Kimura; art by SPIDER MONEY (Little, Brown BYR / August 2022)

Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Leilani Bustamante (Razorbill / January 2022)

Extasia by Claire Legrand; design by Joel Tippie; art by Diego Fernandez (Katherine Tegen Books / February 2022)

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Em Allen (Wednesday Books / March 2022)

Gallant by V. E. Schwab; art by David Curtis (Greenwillow Books / March 2022)

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh; design by Rich Deas; art by Kuri Huang (Feiwel & Friends / February 2022)

HopePunk by Preston Norton; design Mary Claire Cruz; art by Adams Carvalho (Little, Brown BYR / January 2022)

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Jim Tierney (Razorbill / April 2022)

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang; design by Gigi Lau; art by Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor (Inkyard Press / October 2022)

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Corey Brickley (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2022)

Mindy McGinnis’s backlist titles The Female of the Species and The Initial Insult were also re-jacketed in the same style:

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

The sequel, A Venom Dark and Sweet, was published in August with a cover from the same creative team:

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len; design by Jessie Gang; art by Eevien Tan (HarperTeen / February 2022)

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf; design by Sarah Creech; art by Leonardo Santamaria (Salaam Reads / April 2022)

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Tran Nguyen (HarperTeen / October 2022)

Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad; design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian (Margaret K. McElderry Books / October 2022)

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo; design by Anna Booth; art by Feifei Ruan (Dutton BYR / October 2022)

The Secrets We Keep by Cassie Gustafson; design by Krista Vossen; art by beatriz ramo (Simon & Schuster BYR / November 2022)

Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley; design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian; art by Mona Finden (Margaret K. McElderry Books / April 2022)

Strike the Zither by Joan He; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Kuri Huang (Roaring Brook Press / October 2022)

Sugar by Carly Nugent; design by Imogen Stubbs; art by gozitive (Text Publishing / March 2022)

Sugaring Off by Gillian French; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Elena Masci (Algonquin YR / November 2022)

This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves; design by Laurent Linn; art by Goni Montes (Simon & Schuster BYR / August 2022)

This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian; design by Jessie Gang; art by Robin Har (Balzer & Bray / June 2022)

A Thousand Steps into the Night by Traci Chee; design by Celeste Knudsen; art by Kotaro Chiba (Clarion Books / March 2022)

Trigger by N. Griffin; art by Dan Burgess (Atheneum Books / March 2022)

This reminded me of Dan Burgess’s art for Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent from last year. The lesson is, spectral trees are very spooky.

We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Corey Brickley (Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR / June 2022)

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds; design by Beth Clark and Sarah Kaufman; art by Laylie Frazier (Roaring Brook Press / November 2022)

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Jeff Manning (Katherine Tegen Books / September 2022)

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Published December 31, 2021

Notable YA Covers of 2021

These posts are such a last minute scramble I don’t usually offer much in the way of commentary. It is hard to ignore, however, how many of my selections this year are illustrated. This may be a reflection of my personal preferences. Certainly, it isn’t new. As I mentioned in my look back at the year’s adult covers, the trends in 2021 felt very much like a continuation of the previous couple of years. Even so, I was struck by the sophistication and the range of YA illustrations this year. There are some illustrators whose work appears here more than once, but I don’t get the sense that there is a dominant style across category. It seems to depend very much on the specifics of the genre and the age range of the readership. That said, there is, perhaps, a common theme of ornate detail and decoration.

I am also finding it harder to differentiate between covers for more mature YA readers and adult covers of the same genre these days. If the cover blurbs and other identifiers (“A Novel”) didn’t give it away, the combination of the typography, colour palette, and the apparent age of the protagonist depicted used to give me a clue. Now it seems to me that there is a blurring of the lines, and I’ve had to check a couple of times recently to be sure of the intended readership age. I’d be curious to know if this is intentional on the part of publishers.

Anyway, there are some fantastic covers this year. Buzzfeed has a really decent list with design and illustration credits too if you’re looking for a second opinion (not that they need any clicks from me!). You can find my 2020 list here if you are interested.

Happy New Year!

All Of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman; design by Will Staehle (Tor Teen / November 2021)

Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Kerri Resnick (Roaring Brook Press / October 2021)

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson; design by Jessie Gang; illustration by Valentina Remenar (Harperteen / September 2021)

Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert; art and design Natasha Cunningham (Balzer & Bray / October 2021)

Cazadora by Romina Garber; design by Kerri Resnick; illustation by Daria Hlazatova (Wednesday Books / August 2021)

The cover of Lobizona was on last year’s list:

City of Rust by Gemma Fowler; design by Steve Wells; illustration by Karl James Mountford (Chicken House / March 2021)

The Coming Storm by Regina M. Hansen; cover art by Tran Nguyen (Atheneum Books for Young Readers / June 2021)

Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat; design by Laura Mock; illustration by Magdalena Pagowska (Quill Tree Books / September 2021)

Drawn That Way by Elissa Sussman; design by Sarah Creech; lettering and illustration by art lettering Francesca Protopapa (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / September 2021)

Dustborn by Erin Bowman; design by Mary Claire Cruz; illustration by Matt Griffin (Clarion / April 2021)

Aside from generally being a terrific SFF illustrator, I believe Matt Griffin illustrated the cover of Ace Books’ deluxe hardcover edition of Dune by Frank Herbert a couple of years ago, so he seems like an inspired choice here.

The Falling Girls by Hayley Krischer; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Sarah Maxwell (Razorbill / October 2021)

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado; design by Chelsea Hunter; illustration Ericka Lugo (Holiday House / February 2021)

Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria; design by Mary Claire Cruz; illustration by Viv Tanner (Clarion / June 2021)

The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley; design by Richard Deas; illustration Moses Lunham (Henry Holt & Company / March 2021)

(Sorry — I couldn’t find a cover image without the roundel. If anyone at Macmillan would like to send me one, I’ll be happy to replace it)

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur; illustration Pedro Tapa (Feiwel & Friends / April 2021)

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna; design Ray Shappell; cover art by Tarajosu (Delacorte Press / February 2021)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao; design by Talia Abramson; illustration Ashley Mackenzie (Penguin Teen / September 2021)

Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez; design by Casey Moses; cover art Mishko (Delacorte / September 2021)

Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann; design by Rachel Vale (Macmillan Children’s Books / January 2021)

The cover of the US edition, published by ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) in February, was designed by Aurora Parlagreco with an illustration by Sally Nixon. I like it a lot too. It’s interesting to see the contrast between the UK and US markets.

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride; design and illustration by Richard Deas (Feiwel & Friends / August 2021)

Muse by Brittany Cavallaro; design by David Curtis; illustration by Florian Schommer (Katherine Tegen Books / February 2021)

Namesake by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; photograph by Sveltana Belyaeva (Wednesday Books / March 2021)

Fable, the other half of this cover, was published in September 2020 and featured in last year’s YA cover round-up.

Oculta by Maya Motayne; design by Aurora Parlagreco and Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Mark Van Leeuwen (Balzer & Bray / April 2021)

The cover of Nocturna, the previous book in the series, was featured in my 2019 YA round-up.

The Ones We’re Meant To Find by Joan He; design Aurora Parlagreco; illustration Aykut Aydogdu (Roaring Brook Press / May 2021)

Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent; design Alice Wang; illustration Dan Burgess (Harperteen / July 2021)

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Chervelle Fryer (Harperteen / July 2021)

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim; design Alison Impey; cover art by Tran Nguyen; lettering by Alix Northrup (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / July 2021)

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen; cover art by Jeff Manning (Random House BYR / November 2021)

Smoke by Darcy Woods; design Ray Shappell; lettering and photography Agustina Gastaldi Ferrario (Crown BYR / June 2021)

Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki; design Carol Ly; illustration Shoko Ishida (Delacorte / March 2021)

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow; design David Curtis (Tordotcom / October 2021)

(I’m not sure that this is actually YA technically speaking, but it fits better on this list than the other one)

Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix; design David Curtis; illustration Ashley Mackenzie (Katherine Tegen Books / November 2021)

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani; cover art Jenny Zemanek (Harperteen / March 2021)

This goes very nicely with the cover of Thorn, the author’s previous book, published in hardcover last year.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron; design by Jet Purdie; illustration by Raymond Sébastien (Bloomsbury YA / June 2021)

This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry; design David Curtis (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2021)

Tides of Mutiny by Rebecca Rode; design Leo Nickolls (Jimmy Patterson / September 2021)

The Verdigris Pawn by Alysa Wishingrad; design by Laura Mock ; illustration Júlia Sardà (HarperCollins / July 2021)

Yes, this is middle-grade and not YA, but I really like the lettering and I love Júlia Sardà’s illustrations so I’m allowing it.

When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris; design David Dewitt; illustration Shane Ramos (Quill Tree Books / January 2021)

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood; design Kerri Resnick; illustration Palesa (Wednesday Books / October 2021)

(Another cover image with a roundel. Apologies. At least it is somewhat less obtrusive here.)

Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi; design Lizzy Bromley; cover art by gg (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / March 2021)

The covers of Emergency Contact and Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi designed by Lizzy Bromley with art by gg have featured in previous year’s lists.

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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)

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 January 6, 2020

Notable YA Covers of 2019

I always feel a bit guilty about this post. Readers seem to like it, but I don’t actually see a lot of young adult books day-to-day, so I am far too reliant on the covers people put in front of me to make it a really representative list. To make matters worse, it is now very late and very rushed. Nevertheless, there are some really great YA (and middle-grade!) covers here that I wanted to share. Feel free to tell me about all the ones I missed in the comments! Happy New Year!

All American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney; design by Cassie Gonzales; illustration by Carmi Grau (Farrar Straus & Giroux BYR / November 2019)

All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle; design by Lindsey Andrews; photograph by Ines Rehberger (Kathy Dawson / October 2019)

The Arrival of Someday by Jen Malone; design by Jessie Gang; art by Sophia Drevenstam; lettering by Molly Jacques (HarperTeen / June 2019)

The Beholder by Anna Bright; design Michelle Taormina; art by Vault49 (HarperTeen / July 2019)

Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid; design by Bora Tekogul (Inkyard Press / April 2019)

Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lại; design Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Xuan Loc Xuan (HarperCollins / September 2019)

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)

Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers; design Whitney Leader-Picone; art by Billelis (HMH Books for Young Readers / February 2019)

The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz; design Carla Weise; art Michelle Lamoreaux (Algonquin Young Readers / October 2019)

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven; design Jenna Stempel-Lobell (HarperTeen / June 2019)

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe; design Michelle Cunningham; art by Christina Allen (Balzer & Bray / January 2019)

Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkins; design by Cassie Gonzales; illustration by Christian Northeast (Farrar Straus & Giroux BYR / April 2019)

Frankly in Love by David Yoon; design by Owen Gildersleeve (G. P. Putnam / September 2019)

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Larry Rostant (Wednesday Books / September 2019)

Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller; design by Katie Klimowicz; lettering by The Letterettes (Henry Holt / April 2020)

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

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration Hsiao Ron Cheng (Wednesday Books / October 2019)

The Great Unknowable End by Kathryn Ormsbee; design by Chloe Foglia; illustration by Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor; lettering by Danielle Davis (Simon & Schuster / March 2019)

Heroine by Mindy McGinnis; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2019)

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

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow; design Jennifer Heuer; art by Anders Rokkum (Delacorte / April 2019)

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Adams Carvalho (HarperTeen / October 2019)

Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby; design Carla Weise; art by David Litchfield (Algonquin / May 2019)

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo; design by Ellen Duda; art by Billelis (Imprint / January 2019)

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg; design Helen Crawford-White (Macmillan / July 2019)

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Adeyemi Adegbesan (HarperTeen / September 2019)

Last Meeting of the Gorilla Club by Sara Nickerson; design Maria Fazio; illustration by Maeve Norton (Dutton Books for Young Readers / August 2019)

Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry; design by David Curtis (Katherine Tegen / August 2019)

Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage; design David Curtis; art by Red Nose Studio (Katherine Tegen / July 2019)

Merrybegot by Julie Hearn; design and illustration by Karl James Mountford (Oxford University Press / April 2019)

The Missing Season by Gillian French; design David Curtis (HarperTeen / May 2019)

Nocturna by Maya Motayne; design by Aurora Parlagreco and Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Mark Van Leeuwen (Balzer & Bray / May 2019)

Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst; design Michelle Taormina; art by Yippiehey (Balzer & Bray / August 2019)

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga; design Jenna Stempel-Lobell ; art by Anoosha Syed (Balzer & Bray / May 2019)

Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi; design by Lizzy Bromley; illustration by gg (Simon & Schuster / September 2019)

Romanov by Nadine Brandes; design by Faceout Studio / Jeff Miller (Thomas Nelson / May 2019)

A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro; design by Katie Fitch; art by Dan Funderburgh (Katherine Tegen / March 2019)

Shadows of Winterspell by Amy Wilson; design Helen Crawford-White (Macmillan / JOctober 2019)

Six Goodbyes We Never Sent by Candace Ganger; design Kerri Resnick; illustration by Cannaday Chapman (Wednesday Books / September 2019)

The Speed of Falling Objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer; design Kai & Sunny (Inkyard Press / October 2019)

The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James; design by Helen Crawford-White (Barrington Stoke / July 2019)

The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix; design Aurora Parlagreco; art by Anne Lambelet (Katherine Tegen / April 2019)

This Might Hurt A Bit by Doogie Horner; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Simon Pulse / June 2019)

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala; design by David Curtis; art by Michael Marsicano (Katherine Tegen / April 2019)

The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees; design Leo Nickolls (Delacorte / March 2019)

We Are the Lost and Found by Helene Dunbar; design Nicole Hower; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Sourcebooks / September 2019)

We the Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia; design by Molly Fehr; art by Cristina Pagnoncelli (Katherine Tegen / February 2019)

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

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Erick Davila (HarperTeen / May 2019)

York: Clockwork Ghost by Laura Ruby; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art Jie Ma (Walden Pond / June 2019)

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Published December 19, 2018

Notable YA Covers of 2018

I have to apologize even more than usual for this year’s YA post. I’ve been rushing to get it done before the holidays and I have finally run out of time. But even though this list is far from definitive, there are still lots of great young adult (and one or two middle-grade) covers for you to peruse. Enjoy!

Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi; design Erin Fitzsimmons (HarperTeen / June 2018)

And She Was by Jessica Verdi; design by Sara Wood (Scholastic / July 2018)

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke; design by Will Staehle (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / October 2018)

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke; design by Jack Noel (Simon and Schuster / October 2018)

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi; design Richard Deas (Henry Holt / March 2018)

City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson; design by Dana Li (Speak / May 2018)

Clara Voyant by Rachelle Delaney; design by Jennifer Griffiths; illustration Christy Lundy (Puffin Canada / May 2018)

The Colors of the Rain by R. L. Toalson; cover art by C. S. Neal (Yellow Jacket / September 2018)

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram; design by Samira Iravani; art by Adams Carvalho (Dial Books / September 2018)

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland; design by David Curtis; photography by Gustavo Marx (Balzer + Bray / July 2018)

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi; design by Lizzy Bromley; illustration gg (Simon & Schuster / March 2018)

The Fates Divide by Veronica Roth; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Jeff Huang (Katherine Tegen Books / April 2018)

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobia Laconis; cover art Lisa Perrin (Simon & Schuster / December 2018)

500 Words or Less by Juleah Del Rosario; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Cannaday Chapman (Simon Pulse / October 2018)

The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell; cover art by Sarah J. Coleman (Clarion / August 2018)

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena; design by Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / March 2018)

The Girl You Thought I Was by Rebecca Phillips; design Michelle Taormina and Alison Klapthor; Photograph by Marta Bevaqua (Harpercollins / July 2018)

Gone to Drift by Diana McCaulay; design by David Curtis; illustration by Dadu Shin (HarperCollins / April 2018)

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert; design by Jim Tierney (Flatiron Books / January 2018)

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry; design by David Curtis (Katherine Tegen Books / August 2018)

I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan; design by Rachel Vale (Pan Macmillan / January 2018)

Legendary by Stephanie Garber; design by Erin Fitzsimmons and Ray Shappell (Flatiron Books / May 2018)

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James; design David Curtis; illustration Amir Belhoula (HarperTeen / July 2018)

Meet Cute by Jennifer L. Armentrout et al; design Mallory Grigg; illustration by Nina Cosford (HMH / January 2018)

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Katherine Tegen Books / May 2018)

Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke; art and lettering by Colin Mercer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / January 2018)

Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aminah Mae Safi; design by Liz Dresner; Photography by Michael Frost (Feiwel & Friends / June 2018)

People Like Us by Dana Mele; design by Maggie Edkins (Putnam / February 2018)

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Gabriel Moreno (Harper Teen / March 2018)

Pride by Ibi Zoboi; design Jenna Stempel-Lobell (Balzer & Bray / September 2018)

Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith; Design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; art by Mike Perry (Simon & Schuster / September 2018)

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand; design by Aurora Parlagreco; illustration by Ruben Ireland (Katherine Tegen Books / October 2018)

Sadie by Courtney Summers; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Agata Wierzbicka (St. Martin’s Press / September 2018)

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Larry Rostant (Wednesday Books / April 2018)

Smoke and Mirrors by K. D. Halbrook; design Chloe Foglia; cover art by Karl James Mountford (Paula Wiseman Books / September 2018)

Le Projet Starpoint: Le Réveil des Adjinns by Marie-Lorna Vaconsin; design by Yeaaah Studio (La Belle Colère / October 2018)

The cover of the first book in the series, published last year, is also very nice:

A Stitch in Time by Daphne Kalmar; cover art by Karl James Mountford (St Martin’s Press / June 2018)

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman; cover art by Simon Prades (Random House / February 2018)

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles; design Marcie Lawrence; illustration by Charlotte Day (Little, Brown & Co / March 2018)

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson; design by Corina Lupp; photography by Michael Frost (Razorbill / May 2018)

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi; design by Rodrigo Corral (HarperCollins / October 2018)

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo; design by Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar. Straus & Giroux / may 2018)

The Wrinkle in Time Quartet by Madeleine L’Engle; design by Kimberly Glyder (Library of America / September 2018)

Kimberly also designed the cover of The Polly O’Keefe Quartet, volume 2 of the Kairos novels, for Library of America:

The two volumes are available as a boxed set.

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Published December 20, 2017

Notable YA Covers of 2017

So here it is, ~~Merry Xmas, everybody’s having fun,~~ my YA (and middle-grade) covers round-up for 2017. This is far from my area of expertise (I mostly work on the adult trade side of things), but until someone else steps up to do a annual post on YA covers with design credits and publisher details you’re stuck with me. Sorry.

All the picks are, of course, mine, but thank you to all the designers who have helped me over the year with covers, suggestions, and credits, and special thanks to Erin Fitzsimmons at HarperCollins and Sarah Creech at Simon & Schuster who helped me with this post in particular. Happy holidays!

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2017)

The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; Illustration by Matt Blease (HarperTeen / July 2017)

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren; design Laurent Lint; illustration by Allison Colpoys (Simon & Schuster / September 2017)

Between Two Skies by Joanne O’Sullivan; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / April 2017)

Caraval by Stephanie Garber; design by Erin Fitzsimmons and Ray Shappell (Flatiron / January 2017)

The Circus by Olivia Levez; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / May 2017)

Nathan’s cover for The Island by Olivia Levez was on my list of Notable YA Book Covers last year:

Dear Martin by Nic Stone; design Angela Carlino (Crown / October 2017)

Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy; design by Helen Crawford-White; embroidery by Jane Crawford-White (Pushkin Press / July 2017)

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon; design Alyssa Nassner; illustration Amanda Lanzone (Amulet Books / March 2017)

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens; design Heather Daugherty; illustration by Jen Heuer (HarperTeen / August 2017)

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera; cover art by Dana Svobodova (Simon & Schuster / February 2017)

Everybody Hurts by Joanna Nadin & Anthony McGowan; design by Leo Nickolls (Atom / August 2017)

Good and Gone by Megan Frazer Blakemore; design by Katie Klimowicz illustration Thomas Danthony (HarperCollins / December 2017)

Goodnight Boy by Nikki Sheehan; design by Edward Bettison (Oneworld / July 2017)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration Debra Cartwright (Balzer + Bray / February 2017)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; design by Maria Soler (Walker Books / April 2017)

Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Monica Ramos (Balzer + Bray / November 2017)

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez; design by Connie Gabbert (Knopf / October 2017)

Jaya and Rasa by Sonia Patel; illustration by Zeke Peña (Cinco Puntos Press / September 2017)

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo; design by design Natalie C. Sousa & Ellen Duda (Imprint / September 2017)

Landscape with Invisible Hand by M. T. Anderson; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2017)

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds; design by Micheal McCartney (Atheneum Books / October 2017)

The Memory Book by Lara Avery; design by Sinem Erkas (Quercus / January 2017)

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Elizabeth H. Clark (Roaring Brook Press / September 2017)

Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki by Kevin Crossley-Holland; illustrated by Jeffrey Alan Love; artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love (Candlewick / September 2017)

The UK edition has a different, bright yellow, cover by Jeffrey Alan Love:

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed; design by Alex Robbins (Simon Pulse / October 2017)

Now I Rise by Kiersten White; design Jet Purdie (based on design by Margaret Hope); illustration Alessandro Taini

The cover is based on Margaret Hope’s design for And I Darken with art by Taini, which was on my list last year:

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus; design by Melissa Four (Penguin / June 2017)

Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen; design by Joan Wong (Wendy Lamb Books / February 2017)

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eager; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / October 2017)

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy; design by Aurora Parlagreco; illustration by Daniel Stolle (Balzer + Bray / May 2017)

The cover of Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; also designed by Aurora Parlagreco and illustrated by Daniel Stolle was on my 2015 list.

Release by Patrick Ness; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; photograph by Andrew Yuzko (Harper Teen / September 2017)

Release by Patrick Ness; design by Ben Norland; illustration by Levente Szabo (Walker Books / May 2017)

Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman; cover art by Teagan White (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / November 2017)

White’s cover for Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman was on my list in 2015:

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge; design by Rachel Vale; illustration by Aitch (Macmillan / September 2017)

Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess; design Micah Kandros (Blink / August 2017)

Spurt by Chris Miles; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Simon & Schuster / February 2017)

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman; design by Sarah Creech (Simon Pulse / September 2017)

10 Things I Can See from Here by Carrie Mac; art by Steven Wilson (Knopf / February 2017)

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins; design by Lindsey Andrews; artwork by Sean Freeman (Dutton / September 2017)

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / November 2017)

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom; design by Maggie Edkins (Poppy Books / February 2017)

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green; design by Rodrigo Corral and Zak Tebbal; lettering by June Park (Dutton / October 2017)

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard; design by Lizzy Bromley (Saga Press / September 2017)

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Chris Bilheimer (Balzer + Bray / April 2017)

The cover for Becky Albertalli’s previous book, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, also illustrated by Chris Bilheimer was on my 2015 list.

Vanilla by Billy Merrell; design by design by Nina Goffi (Scholastic / October 2017)

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

What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2017)

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

Wildman by J.C. Geiger; design by Maria Elias; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Hyperion / June 2017)

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Published December 7, 2016

Notable YA Book Covers of 2016

Hot on the heels of my annual covers post, here is my look back at the year’s young adult book covers. As in previous years, this list is a somewhat crowd-sourced affair, so I must thank all the designers and Twitter-folk who made suggestions and helped in various others ways. I’ve tried my best to credit the designs as fully as possible, but please let me know if there are any errors or omissions.

Aluta by Adwoa Badoe; design Michael Solomon; cover art Shonagh Rae (Groundwood / September 2016)

American Girls by Alison Umminger; design by Philip Pascuzzo (Flatiron / June 2016)

And I Darken by Kiersten White; cover art by Alessandro Taini (Corgi / July 2016)

As I Descended by Robin Talley; design by Michelle Taormina (HarperCollins / October 2016)

Beast by Brie Spangler; design by Leo Nickolls (Knopf / October 2016)

Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh; design by Leo Nickolls (Delacorte / February 2016)

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Burdago; cover art by Thomas Walker and John Bartlett; design Thomas Walker and Richard Deas (Henry Holt / September 2016)

Cuckoo by Keren David; design by Jack Smyth (Atom / August 2016)

A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Roaring Brook / October 2016)

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia; design by Maria Elias (Hyperion / August 2016)

exit-pursued-by-bear-design-kristin-logsdon

Exit, Pursued by Bear by E. K. Johnston; design by Kristin Logsdon (Dutton / March 2016)

The Fall of Butterflies by Andrea Portes; design by Sarah Nicole Kaufman (HarperTeen / May 2016)

A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry; design by Allison Colpoys (Algonquin / April 2016)

Frannie and Tru by Karen Hattrup; design by Ray Shappell (HarperCollins / June 2016)

Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / April 2016)

The Graces by Laure Eve; design by Maria T. Middleton; illustration by Spencer Charles (Amulet / September 2016)

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle; design by Krista Vossen (Simon & Schuster / March 2016)

The Haters by Jesse Andrews; design by Chad W. Beckerman and Will Staehle (Abrams / April 2016)

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo; design by Liz Dresner and Elaine C. Damasco; photograph by Michael Frost (Flatiron / May 2016)

Into White by Randi Pink; design by April Ward (Feiwel & Friends / September 2016)

The Island by Olivia Levez; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / November 2016)

Kids of Appetite by David Arnold; design Theresa Evangelista; illustration Yuschav Arly (Viking / September 2016)

It Looks Like This by Rafi Mittlefehldt; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / December 2016)

Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig; design by Rich Deas (Feiwel & Friends / October 2016)

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge; design by Maria T. Middleton; cover by Vincent Chong (Amulet / April 2016)

The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2016)

The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon; design by Will Steele; cover art by Olivia Lomenech Gill (Faber & Faber / October 2016)

The Nightwanders by C. J. Flood; design by Nic&Lou Studio (Simon & Schuster / June 2016)

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst; design by Michelle Taormina, art by Jacob Eisinger (Balzer + Bray / November 2016)

Phantom Limbs by Paula Garner; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2016)

Replica by Lauren Oliver; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (HarperCollins / October 2016)

This really needs to be seen in person for the fancy acetate wrap as well the double covers:

Save Me, Kurt Cobain by Jenny Manzer; design by M80 (Bantam / March 2016)

Scar by J. Albert Mann; design by Christopher Silas Neal (Calkins Creek / April 2016)

seven-ways-we-lie-design-maria-t-middleton

Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate; design by Maria T. Middleton (Abrams / March 2016)

The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine; design Sarah Nichole Kaufman; lettering / apple carving Sean Freeman (Balzer + Bray / February 2016)

Shiver the Whole Night Through by Darragh McManus; design by Jet Purdie (Hot Key Books / April 2016)

still-life-with-tornado-design-by-samira-iravani

Still Life with Tornado by A. S. King; design by Samira Iravani (Dutton / October 2016)

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro; jacket art Dan Funderburgh; design Katie Fitch (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2016)

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon; design Elaine C. Damasco; art Dominique Falla (Delacorte / November 2016)

Swan Boy by Nikki Sheehan; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / November 2016)

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs; design by Lindsey Andrews; cover art Andrew Davidson (Dutton / September 2016)

Tell Me Something Real by Calla Devlin; cover art Jill de Haan (Simon & Schuster / September 2016)

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; Photography by Keirnan Monaghan, styling by Theo Vamvounakis (Simon and Schuster / February 2016)

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp; design by N. C. Sousa (Sourcebooks / April 2016)

This Savage Song design Jenna Stempel
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab; design Jenna Stempel (GreenWillow / July 2016)

thousandth-floor-design-jenna-stempel-art-sasha-vinogradova

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee; design by Jenna Stempel; cover art by Sasha Vinogradova (HarperCollins / August 2016)

A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison; design by Ray Shappell (Delacorte / May 2016)

unexpected-everything-design-lucy-ruth-cummins-photography-meredith-jenks

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins; photography by Meredith Jenks (Simon & Schuster / May 2016)

When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid; design Ceara Elliot; lettering and illustration Martina Flor (Atom / February 2016)

wink-poppy-midnight-art-by-lisa-perrin-design-by-kristin-smith

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke; design by Kristin Smith; cover art by Lisa Perrin (Dial / April 2016)

Wrecked by Maria Padian; design by Liz Casal (Algonquin Young Readers / October 2016)

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Published December 14, 2015

52 YA Covers for 2015

As my 2014 post was such a hit, here is my second annual look at the past year’s young adult book covers. This isn’t my speciality, so this list is a lot more of a crowd-sourced effort than my very personal adult list. A special thank you to all the designers who have made suggestions in the past couple of weeks — you know who you are! — and if there are any burning omissions, please let me know in the comments!

Birdy Jet Purdie
Birdy by Jess Vallance; design by Jet Purdie (Hot Key Books / July 2015)

Big Lie design Jet Purdie
The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew; design by Jet Purdie (Hot Key Books / September 2015)

conviction-design-maria-elias-cs-neal
Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert design by Maria Elias; illustration by Christopher Silas Neal (Disney-Hyperion / May 2015)

Cut Both Ways design Erin Fitzsimmons
Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (HarperCollins / September 2015)

Zebulon Finch design Lizzy Bromley illustration Ken Taylor
The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch; design by Lizzy Bromley; illustration by Ken Taylor (Simon & Schuster / October 2015 )

Delicate Monsters design Kerri Resnick
Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn; design by Kerri Resnick (St. Martin’s Griffin / June 2015)

Drop design Maria Soler illustration Levente Szabó
Drop by Katie Everson; design by Maria Soler; illustration Levente Szabó (Walker Books / August 2015)

Dumplin design by Aurora Parlagreco illus Daniel Stolle
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; design by Aurora Parlagreco; illustration by Daniel Stolle (Balzer + Bray / September 2015)

eden-west-design-matt-roeser
Eden West by Pete Hautman; design by Matt Roeser; illustration Dadu Shin (Candlewick / April 2015)

Emmy and Oliver design Sarah Nichole Kaufman illustration Matthew Allen
Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway; design Sarah Nichole Kaufman; illustration Matthew Allen (Balzer + Bray / June 2015)

Everything Everything design N C Sousa
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon; design by N. C. Sousa; cover art by Good Wives and Warriors (Delacorte / September 2015)

Extraordinary Means cover art by Julie McLaughlin
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider; cover art by Julie McLaughlin (Simon & Schuster / June 2015)

This lung-tree illustration is just incredible, but it is worth noting that this UK cover is actually an adaptation of the killed US cover (HarperCollins).

Fans of the Impossible Life design by Jenna Stempel; art by Mia Nolting
Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa; design by Jenna Stempel; art by Mia Nolting (Balzer + Bray / September 2015)

5 to 1 design by Jennifer Heuer
5 to 1 by Holly Bodger; design by Jennifer Heuer (Knopf / May 2015)

game-of-love-and-death-artwork-cs-neal-design-nina-goffi
The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough; design by Nina Goffi; illustration by Christopher Silas Neal (Scholastic / April 2015)

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The Golden Yarn by Cornelia Funke; design by Mirada (Breathing Books / December 2015)

History of Blood and Glitter design Kelsey Premo Jones cover art Sam Weber
History of Blood and Glitter by Hannah Moskowitz; design Kelsey Premo Jones; cover art by Sam Weber (Chronicle Books / August 2015)

I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest; design Phil Falco; cover illustration by Kali Ciesemier (Scholastic / August 2015)

Ill Give You the Sun design Maria Soler; illustration Sophie Heywood
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson; design Maria Soler; illustration Sophie Heywood (Walker Books / April 2015)

Walker Books also reissued Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere with matching cover art by Sophie Heywood.

Theresa Evangelista‘s design for the hardcover of I’ll Give You the Sun was on last year’s list.

Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler; design by Michelle Taormina; art by Matthew Allen (HarperTeen / September 2015)

Island cover art Chris Riddell
Island by Nicky Singer; cover art by Chris Riddell (Caboodle Books / October 2015)

Lottery Boy design Jack Noel
Lottery Boy by Michael Byrne; design by Jack Noel (Walker Books / May 2015)

Madness So Discreet design Erin Fitzsimmons
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; cover art by Brooke Shaden (Katherine Tegen Books / October 2015)

Mosquitoland design Theresa Evangelista illustration Andrew Fairclough
Mosquitoland by David Arnold; design by Theresa Evangelista illustration Andrew Fairclough (Viking Books / March 2015)

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga; design Jenna Stempel (Balzer + Bray / February 2015)

Nest design Jon Klassen
Nest by Kenneth Oppel; design Lucy Ruth Cummins; cover art Jon Klassen (Simon & Schuster / October 2015)

It also looks pretty spiffy with the jacket removed.

Next Together design Jack Noel
The Next Together by Lauren James; design Jack Noel (Walker Books / September 2015)

Night Owls design Leo Nickolls
Night Owls by Jenn Bennett; design by Leo Nickolls (Simon & Schuster / September 2015)

panther
Panther by David Owen; design Gray318 (Corsair / March 2015)

Placebo Junkies design Ray Shappell
Placebo Junkies by J.C. Carleson; design Ray Shappell; photograph by Christine Blackburne (Knopf / October 2015)

PS I Still Love You design LR Cummins
PS I Still Love You design Lucy Ruth Cummins; Photography by Douglas Lyle Thompson (Simon & Schuster / May 2015)

Although this is really a variant to the cover of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (on last year’s list), I still think it works really well.

queen-of-bright-shiny-things-design-anna-booth
The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre; design by Anna Booth; photography by Jon Barkat and Gary Spector (Feiwel & Friends / April 2015)

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; cover art by Josh Cochran (HarperCollins / October 2015)

It should be noted that this cover glows in the dark.

The UK version was designed by David McDougall for Walker Books.

Save Me design Richard Deas photo art Adam Andrearczyk
Save Me by Jenny Elliott; design Richard Deas photo art Adam Andrearczyk (Swoon Reads / July 2015)

Show and Prove design by Christian Fuenfhausen
Show and Prove by Sofia Quintero; design by Christian Fuenfhausen (Knopf / July 2015)

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli; design by Alison Klapthor; illustration by Chris Bilheimer (Balzer + Bray / April 2015)

Six of Crows design Rich Deas
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo; design Rich Deas (Henry Holt & Co / September 2015)

Song for Ella Grey design Liz Casal
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond; design Liz Casal (Delacorte / October 2015)

Symphony design by Matt Roeser
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson; design by Matt Roeser; illustration by Kikuo Johnson (Candlewick / September 2015)

Thing About Jellyfish design Marcie Lawrence
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin;design by Marcie Lawrence; illustration Terry Fan and Eric Fan (Little Brown & Co / September 2015)

Tonight the Streets design Elizabeth H Clark
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2015)

The Trouble In Me by Jack Gantos; design by Christian Fuenfhausen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2015)

Tiny Pretty Things art Sean Freeman design Michelle Taormina
Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton; design by Michelle Taormina; cover art by Sean Freeman (HarperCollins / May 2015)

Vengeance Road illustration Teagan White
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman; illustration by Teagan White (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / September 2015)

walls-around-us
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma; design by Connie Gabbert (Algonquin Books / March 2015)

we-all-looked-up
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach; Lucy Ruth Cummins; photographer Meredith Jenks (Simon & Schuster / March 2015)

I still prefer the title-less version!

Willful Machines design Dan Potash
Willful Machines by Tim Foreen; design by Dan Potash (Simon & Schuster / October 2015)

Winterkill design Will Steele illustration Studio Helen
Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman; design and illustration Helen Crawford-White (Faber / November 2015)

Helen’s cover for Darkthaw, the sequel to Winterkill is also rather lovely.

The US cover for Winterkill designed by Maria T. Middleton with art by Shane Rebebschied was on my list last year.

Wolf Wilder illustration Dan Burgess design Lizzy Bromley
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell; Design by Lizzy Bromley; cover art by Dan Burgess (Simon & Schuster / August 2015)

The Winter Place design by Paul Coomey
The Winter Place by Alexander Yates; design by Paul Coomey (Simon & Schuster / October 2015)

(This probably needs to be seen in person as the blue is, I believe, a metallic finish, and the back cover is the image reversed in a lovely orange-red).

Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak; design by Lynn Buckley (Knopf / September 2015)

X by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick Press / January 2015)

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Published June 1, 2015

Virago Modern Classics Daphne du Maurier

JamaicaInn_YA

This summer UK publisher Virago is publishing two sets of Daphne du Maurier’s most famous titles with new and beautifully illustrated covers.

According to editorial director Donna Coonan, du Maurier’s reputation has flourished in recent years. She is also an author with cross-generational appeal. “The heroines of her best-known novels are young women at a turning point in their lives,” says Coonan. “These are beautifully written books that are exciting, suspenseful and brilliantly atmospheric. There is passion, danger, romance . . . and pirates!”

For over a decade Virago published du Maurier’s backlist with a uniform style. “They sat nicely together in a set, but were starting to look a little dated and lacked individuality,” says art director Nico Taylor. “I had never read du Maurier before, but once I got stuck in I realised just how diverse her writing is which led me to the idea that presenting each novel with a distinctive, individual look would be the best way to ensure du Maurier’s work continues to look fresh.”

Rebecca

For the first three titles in series (there are a staggering 17 or so more to come!), Taylor worked with illustrators Neil Gower (Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek) and Jordan Metcalf (Rebecca). “It became clear that it would be hard to avoid some of the obvious reference points from each title, but I was keen that they were used in an integrated or suggestive way… all credit has to go to the illustrators for imagining their respective covers in such distinctive ways.”

Rebecca_YA

Alongside this refreshed backlist, Virago is also planning to introduce these same three classics — French Man’s Creek, Jamaica Inn, and Rebecca, — to young adults with new covers by Iacopo Bruno. “This was a great opportunity to show that du Maurier is a big contribution to the gothic novels popular with this age group of readers,” says art director Sophie Burdess. “I wanted to create a set of covers primarily composed of evocative gothic typography that gave du Maurier the authority and appeal she deserves as well as giving a feel for the individual themes of each novel,” she continues. “[Iacopo] is a rare and exceptionally beautiful illustrator and hand lettering artist who knows just how to pitch the work for a younger audience… the task of creating a set of beautiful compositions of elegant hand lettering and vignette illustrations was very safe in his hands.”

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Published April 20, 2015

Salman Rushdie and Adult-YA Crossovers

rushdie

The cover of the US edition of Salman Rushdie’s first adult novel in seven years. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (Random House, September 2015), was revealed on Buzzfeed last week.1 While the cover itself is perfectly fine, the most remarkable thing about it is how much it looks like a novel for young adults.

I was immediately reminded of the cover of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, designed by Rodrigo Corral (Penguin 2012)…

fault-in-stars-nyt

…and the lovely hand-lettered YA covers of Australian designer and illustrator Allison Colpoys:

why-we-took-the-car-design-allison-colpoys

For the Forest of a Bird by Sue Saliba; design by Allison Colpoys (Penguin / January 2015)

Something in the World Called Love by Sue Saliba; design by Allison Colpoys (Penguin / August 2008)

After some further thought, however, I realised that it is even more reminiscent of the cover for the novel Waiting for Doggo by Mark B. Mills, designed by Yeti Lambregts (Headline, November 2014), which made me wonder if, perhaps, we are starting to see more adult covers that look like YA?

Since the success of Harry Potter, publishers have known that adults read ‘children’s books’ for pleasure, and they will often try to appeal these to older readers with more mature covers. On Twitter last week, American YA cover designer Erin Fitzsimmons (interviewed on the blog here), identified this as ‘crossover appeal.’ But crossover appeal can go both ways, and it seems that adult covers are being designed to reach the widest possible audience too.

This trend is more pronounced in the UK where bright and whimsical illustrated covers are common for commercial fiction. The vibrant cover of the UK edition of Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (and the accompanying backlist) — beautifully illustrated by Sroop Sunar and unveiled today — is a perfect example:

two-years-illustration-sroop-sunar

According to CMYK, the Vintage Books design blog, Sunar was inspired by printed ephemera found in India around the time of Independence, and the brightly coloured covers would work equally well for YA as for adult fiction:

rushdie-uk-backlist-illustration-sroop-sunar

US publishers have (I think) been slower to market adult fiction to younger readers in this way. Although hand-lettering has become very common on US covers for a while now, photographic images still dominate commercial fiction covers. Compare, for example, the UK cover of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, illustrated by Nathan Burton (left), with US edition designed by Abby Weintraub (on the right):

From my own experience, I can also think of at least one quirky illustrated cover — for an upcoming literary novel that the publisher has very high hopes for — that was killed at the last minute in favour of a more traditional photographic one. The original design could easily have been for a gothic Young Adult fantasy. The new cover, much less ambiguous, is clearly intended for adult book clubs.

Adam by Ariel Schrag; design by Christopher Moisan (Mariner / June 2014)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan; design by Joan Wong (Anchor / May 2014)

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer; design by Olga Grlic (St. Martin’s Press / July 2014)

Even so, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights and a few other recent covers suggest that US publishers are willing to experiment, and as audiences for YA and adult fiction become harder to differentiate, we will only see more covers that blur those lines.

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Tag: YA

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