Monday, July 6, 2015

I Judge Books By Their Covers: "Boo"

Hello, my name is Lindsay, and I judge books by their covers.
Confession: I 
always judge books by their covers. A book's appearance -- from the artwork to the font to the colors to the texture to the weight and cut of the pages (I like the ragged-edged ones) -- is very important to me. And there are certain kinds of covers I like and certain ones I'd never pick up unless I was already planning to read the book. It's fascinating to see how covers change between editions -- hardcover and paperback, or U.S. and international -- and it's so fun to see who prefers what!

The cover on the left is the U.S. edition and the right is the U.K. edition.

Read my review of "Boo" here.

Here's another good book with two fairly disparate covers. Sometimes I wonder how the same book can have such different artistic interpretations! Overall, I suppose the U.K. cover is a better fit for the book itself, and the blurb -- combined with the O turned into a halo and even the finger gun -- are punny and catchy. I like the bold orange color choice and the style of the artwork.

But the U.S. cover really drew me in -- in fact, I had never heard of this book until the cover caught my eye when I was processing new library books at work. The colors are gorgeous (maybe I'm biased because I love anything in the teal/turquoise family) and the number 106 is important to the story. The book is fairly charming and quirky, and the mysterious eyes peeking out of the locker are a bit less sinister than the boy pretending to shoot himself in the head. And the cobalt slices of locker vent provide a contrast and symmetry to the cover that's pleasing to the eye.

I like how the handwritten title text gives both books a subtle school theme -- the U.S. title is reminiscent of chalk, and the U.K. cover looks like a marker scrawl. These covers are eye-catching and I like them both, but the winner is... the U.S. cover! Do tell, which cover to you like best?

1 comment:

  1. I also would go for the U.S. Cover. I guess the color and the eyes peeking out grab my attention the most.

    ReplyDelete

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