Here's another taste of my fun interview with Deena Lipomi, a YA Librarian at Brighton Memorial Library in Rochester, NY. I asked her about book covers, in relation to the Cover Stories series, and she gave me all kinds of fun tidbits. Catch Part 1 here (for some reason it won't let you comment on that one--sorry!) and Part 2 here.Here's part 3, where Deena talks about books that don't get picked up (and she blames the covers):
"Unpopular covers that hide great books are such a huge disappointment to me! I LOVED Gary D. Schmidt's THE WEDNESDAY WARS and TROUBLE, but I have to hand sell them in order to get them to go out because the covers are so boring and dreary. Also, books with gray covers never 
go out unless pushed. Some off the top of my head that sat and sat and sat on my New YA Books shelf no matter how many times I put them face out include CREATURE OF THE NIGHT by Kate Thompson (really good ghost story with heart), and EMPERORS OF THE ICE by Richard Farr (fantastic story about Antarctica). Thank goodness word of mouth is so good for THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins because that cover is yawnsville.
"Monochromatic covers don't do too well either. I didn't read it, but I know 
DOWN SAND MOUNTAIN by Steve Watkins won an SCBWI award, but it never goes out. One could argue the sneakers on it are "iconic," but for some reason it doesn't work that way with the entirely beige book. 
Also, the solid green cover of CREEPERS by Joanne Dahme never goes out. There's no focal point, and it's especially hard once the library plastic book covers are put over them to protect them; with the glare it is even harder to see what's on them."
"Another cover type that doesn't go out much are cartoony ones. For paperbacks, they do OK, but for hardcovers, like MARCELLO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork (which is a great story about a boy with an autistic-like condition), it doesn't help the cause. I'm not sure why -- is it too babyish? Or not as provocative as all the glitzy covers with real photos on them?"
I love hearing Deena's thoughts and observations. What do you guys think about what she's said? I know there's been debate about Lovestruck Summer's cartoon cover, and I totally welcome that. I actually really like the Marcello cover... but I kind of agree that the rest are a little bland.
Thanks, Deena, for such interesting answers!
PS-The winner of last week's contest for The Elite series is... Juliana! Send me your address, J.