Cover Stories: We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

The final book in Jenny Han's delicious summer trilogy is here! She has shared the Cover Stories for Book 1 (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Book 2 (It's Not Summer Without You), and now we have the scoop behind We'll Always Have Summer (out this week). Here's Jenny:

"A girl in a white dress is what always what I wanted for the final book. I had this in mind even before I knew what I wanted for the second book.

"I actually bought the dress the cover model is wearing. I spent two days trolling the city for the perfect flowy white dress, and let me tell you, this was no easy feat. It was September, when white dresses had already been whisked off the sales racks and there was only like, plaid and back-to-school corduroy everywhere. I found the dress in the last store I went to, the night before the shoot. And on sale, no less!

"Lucy Cummins, the ever-amazing book designer, also brought some white dresses to pick from, but we ended up going with mine because it was the fanciest. You can’t tell by the cover, but it’s floor-length, halter neck, and silk. And it’s currently stuffed in an envelope somewhere behind my filing cabinet.

"My editor has always been super supportive and generous about letting me in on this process. We actually did the covers for It’s Not Summer Without You and We’ll Always Have Summer at the same time -- it was a photo shoot at Rockaway Beach. I actually got to go, which was such a treat.

"The photographer shot a lot of different looks --her in her dress in the water, her walking along the sand, all really lovely. It was so hard to pick a favorite shot!

"The only input I gave at the shoot was that I wanted a shot of her against the grass. I loved the white and the green against each other. I had this image of her running her hands along the tops. I actually didn’t get to see them shoot the cover photo because I had to run off to school. But I was so glad when I saw the proofs, because this was the exact shot I envisioned!

"I love this cover. Really, really love it. To me, it’s wistful and romantic and the perfect end to the series-- I just hope the story itself is as satisfying for y’all!"

Thanks, Jenny! I love that this cover concept all started with a very cool inspiration board. Every time I see these covers I feel like letting out a satisfied summer sigh (not to mention that this trilogy has marked the start of summer for the past three years). Here are all of the Belly books together:

What do you guys think?

Cover Stories: It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Jenny Han shared the Cover Story for The Summer I Turned Pretty last year, complete with inspiration board and amazing on-set back story. Now, she's here with tales of the sequel, It's Not Summer Without You, which just came out last week. Here's Jenny:

"I actually didn't really have too many ideas or preconceptions for It's Not Summer Without You. Since it's the second in a series, I knew it had to be of the same mood/general look as the first--and I truly loved the first (below). My one thought was, since the first one is so up-close and intimate, I thought the sequel could maybe be from far off. "We weren't able to get the same model from Book 1, because she is (obvi) gorgeous and busy and on the cover of Nylon now or whatever. But, after much debate and back and forth, we found someone we liked just as much. We knew that her face would be somewhat obscured, so as long as Belly's 'essence' (ha!) was there, it was all good.

"As a birthday present to me, my editor invited me to come to the set. Best birthday present ever! The set was actually on Rockaway Beach at Jacob Riis Park. There was me, my editor, my book designer, the models, the photographer, and the makeup artist, who kept spritzing the models with some sort of beachy hair tonic. I mostly stayed quiet and watched them work their magic. Everyone was lovely and I just felt honored to be there.

"The one thing I asked for after the fact was to sprinkle some (digital) freckles on Belly. The first model had lots o' freckles and I loved them and I wanted to keep that consistent.

"I love the end product and I truly hope the readers will too. Much love to the designer Lucy Cummins, who works very hard and is pretty much brilliant!"

I just adore the beachy summer feel of these covers, and they certainly depict the books' insides (two boys!) well. Also: Love the on-set shot. Thanks, Jenny!

What do you guys think?