This month I was really reminded of something that I used to be much more cognizant of: all of the faces, on almost all of the covers, are... well... white.
When I took on my February personal challenge to read only books written by or about people of color, I had a pretty short reading list. I knew I wanted to read Mare's War and The Mighty Miss Malone, but after that... ? Building up my reading list for this month took a little research. I scoured blogs like Reading in Color, Fledgling, and The Brown Bookshelf for suggestions. While I did find some absolute treasures, it really is shocking how few books are published each year by/about people of color. And that deficit is pretty darn obvious if you just scan the covers in the YA section at your local bookstore.
So what's your take, book lovers? Do you really notice race or ethnicity when you're scanning book covers? Does that factor really even matter when choosing a new book? And why do you think so many of our YA covers are so pale?
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There does need to be more ethnicity in book covers shown. So often a book that features a character of color ends up having a generic cover-like the one for Legend. I understand some of the marketing behind that, especially for that book-you want to make it look like the other dystopan novels so that the reader understands that this is a dystopian. But I would love to see more people of color on covers as well as more exotic locations when a book is set somewhere else, instead of a generic stock photo of a flower or something.
ReplyDeleteYes - agree 100%. And I actually really like the Legend cover, I just think it would have been interesting to see a version that showed June and Day... But! I bet the publishers never would have done that b/c it would have given the story a completely different "feel" based on the cover.
DeleteI definitely notice because having books that reflect my students is really important to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing those blog links, I am always looking for more resources to find books that honor my students!
That is exactly why I started seeking these books out in the first place. If it wasn't for my students in Baltimore, I probably never would have heard of the Sharons or Nikki Grimes. When we moved to Michigan, I realized that I wasn't being so purposeful about looking for different races or ethnicities in my reading anymore, so that's why I made up this "BHM Challenge." Our kids deserve many more books that reflect their faces!
DeleteI love that you are using "The Sharons" now! I did a Reading Institute at Columbia's Teachers College and they changed everything for me when they asked "Who are we honoring in our libraries?" I look forward to the BHM Challenge becoming an annual thing!
DeleteThat is my new favorite quote/future motto for my future library. "Who are we honoring in our libraries?" Hopefully we're honoring each others' unique and diverse backgrounds, and not just our affection for paranormal romance (ugh).
DeleteAnd seriously, they will forever be the Sharons for me now!
Ehh, I would really love to disagree with you right now, but unfortunately, I think you're right. I noticed a really bad case of whitewashing on the cover of Witchlanders (a book that I loved) - the cover features a white, blonde girl, which first of all, the two main characters are guys, and second of all, there are no white, blond people in the universe that the book took place. There were only two races - one was pale skinned with dark hair and dark eyes, represented by one main character, and the other race had dark skin with light hair and blue eyes, represented by the other main character. It made absolutely no sense...
ReplyDeleteWow - that's just crazy. Obviously whoever created the book had never read it (or even asked the author about it). Thanks for sharing!
DeleteWhat I find annoying is those cases when there is a main character who's not white, and he or she isn't shown on the cover. You'd never know, for instance, that the main character of The Way We Fall is half black, half white.
ReplyDelete(If you are interested in fantasy with diverse characters, I am keeping a list at my place-- http://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/p/reviews-of-multicultural-fantasy-and.html)
Oh, thanks for the link! I'll have to go check it out!!
DeleteIt happens allot.
ReplyDeleteIt saddens me.
But the business brain inside me says, "It must happen for a reason. They wouldn't do it - if it didn't sell better."
So we consumers need to start buying covers that feature darker skin and diverse models.
Great point.
Juju, that is an awesome point. We definitely send a message about the covers/stories that we value via the books we buy. Thanks for pointing that out!
DeleteI've noticed this trend as well. Though I always write diverse characters it's hard coming up with covers that really represent the book AND are marketable. For my Leslie DuBois pen name, I plan on releasing a series of books that feature girls of color in pretty dresses. I think it will be a fun challenge.
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