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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Cover Stories: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

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Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds is out this month, and she's here to tell the tale behind a cover that reminds me of a classic already!

First, a little about the book:
Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way-the Themis Way.
Disreputable-History-of-Frankie-Landau-Banks-PB.jpg
So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds-a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

And now here's Daisy:

"As I was writing, I pictured a girl at boarding school ala The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (left)!

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"Ah, but there's the myth that authors have any say over their covers! My editor showed me cover comps throughout the process and I was able to give feedback on the elements I liked. I had suggestions on elements of the bird and the trees and some of them were incorporated. The original cover was red and green (right) and the final is blue and yellow. I'm so happy with the blue version!

"My cover was illustrated by an artist. The final cover design features a blue and yellow bird and the blue matches all my blue shoes! Hurrah! In the end, I love it. I think it's unusual and stands out."

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Thanks, Daisy! I just think something about this cover looks old-school lit in the best possible timeless way. It also has a great spine, right? (And how about that storyline--whoa! Love.)

What do you guys think?

5 comments:

Micol Ostow said...

I love that the cover is straightforward and retro - it fits the tone of the story in the best possible way. Thanks, Melissa, for this cover story - great feature, great book!

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Penelope Sanchez said...
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Penelope Sanchez said...

I really wanted to love this book because it addresses a topic that isn't discussed much in YA fiction, but I couldn't. Not to say that it was a bad book, because I know a lot of people have really enjoyed it, it just wasn't my favorite.

Mariz
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