Cover Stories: Jump the Cracks by Stacy DeKeyser

Stacy DeKeyser's book Jump the Cracks, has one of the most compelling descriptions ever: "A 15-year-old girl is accused of kidnapping when she finds an abandoned child on a train and then hides him from his abusive father. Soon she's on a cross-country journey with the boy, as each 'right' decision gets her deeper into trouble -- and farther away from home. Victoria has vowed to protect the little boy no matter what. But can she keep that promise? Fast-paced suspense about a determined girl who becomes both rescuer and abductor of a child at risk."Sounds like the cover could have gone a bunch of different ways, so Stacy's here to share how it played out: "When I write, and even when I read a novel, I prefer not to form a distinct mental picture of the main characters. I don't include much physical description in my book. I prefer to let the characters sort of form and shape themselves in the reader's mind. Probably for the same reason, one thing I DID know was that the cover wouldn't show any faces. "Flux was great about [requesting input on the cover design]. My editor Andrew Karre asked me for my ideas, and he told me his. My only requests were 'no faces' and 'no shiny covers.' (That's just me--I don't like shiny book covers.) "When I saw the cover, at first I was a little surprised, because Andrew had described a cover using mosaic tiles, like you see in the New York City subway, which is one setting in Jump the Cracks. So when I saw the actual cover. without any mosaics, it threw me a bit. But I warmed up to it instantly. I loved the arrows, and the suggestion of motion, and the fact that you can't see what the girl might be carrying. You know she's going somewhere, and you want to know her story. And (I suppose this will sound weird after I said I don't imagine my characters' physically), she looks exactly the way I'd pictured her in my head. "I had no comments to make, except, 'Wow!' Andrew said there had been several different cover designs, but I only saw one -- the perfect one. And I still really love it." Thanks, Stacy! I agree that the cover has so much motion--it definitely indicates a fast-paced journey, and I can't wait to read the book! What do you guys think?