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readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Cover Stories: The Good, the Bad and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone

barbie.jpg
Tanya Lee Stone's latest book, The Good, the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us, has earned three stars from the publishing world and raves like this one from Lauren Myracle: "Holy belly buttons! This is no mere Barbie book. This is a how-to manual about being a girl: a strong, sparky, awesome girl, with Barbie in hand *or* Barbie in the nearest Dumpster!"
Love that. Plus, it has a sly, iconic cover. I had to ask Tanya how it came about. Here she is:

"I didn't have a picture of the front cover in my head from the beginning, but once I started playing around with all of the dolls in Peter Harrigan's collection (which we used for the photo shoot), I started thinking about the BACK cover. I pictured a border of heads peering from the edge into the middle of the cover (kind of creepy). I fell in love with the Elphaba doll from Wicked, and thought the Twilight dolls were kind of cool (and again, kind of creepy). In the end, we used a great shot the photographer took of a bunch of the international dolls, in a pinwheel formation. I love it.1959 Barbie.jpg

"My publisher did ask for my input. We talked about what image should go on the cover. Should it be a universal favorite (there really isn't one) or not?"

Read the rest of Tanya's Cover Story at melissacwalker.com. And hear more about the book at I Heart Daily!

5 comments:

Lorie Ann Grover said...

I remember when Tanya was doing research for this work. Doesn't it sound perfect? Can't wait to get my hands on it!

Micol Ostow said...

I can't wait to read this one!

Little Willow said...

I submitted anecdotes for this piece, some of which are quoted in the final version! I'm so flattered. I thank Tanya (and her editing team!)

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