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..."

Read the rest of Jenny's Cover Story at melissacwalker.com.

rgz NYC HOST: Jenny Han's We'll Always Have Summer Release Party!

At Books of Wonder, among Han-made cupcakes and beer, we celebrated the release of Jenny Han's We'll Always Have Summer!

See below for pics of the food (pigs in a blanket went FAST), fellow authors Coe Booth and Bennett Madison and the lovely-in-white Jenny, and, of course, the Pajants (they were total photo hogs, insisting on pictures with both Jenny and the awesome Coe Booth).

Congrats on the release, Jenny! 

Jenny reads a particularly hilarious passage... that ends with a cliffhanger! Conrad!

Blue Moon beer...

Bennett Madison and super S&S Editor Zareen Jaffery (does B not have amazing hair?). 

Jenny made cupcakes!

Pigs in a blanket get fancy on a silver tray!

Coe, my baby bump, and the Pajants

Jenny, humoring me and the Pajants.

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 this month.

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..."

Read the full Cover Story at melissacwalker.com, and see a behind-the-scenes photo!

Cover Stories: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Jenny Han is a Carolina graduate, so she and I can talk Chapel Hill and pretty much geek out over basketball. Her latest novel, The Summer I Turned Pretty, is magical (and there's a sequel in the works--yay!). Here's the Cover Story Jenny shared on my blog this summer. For some reason, it makes me think of Halloween. Maybe it's the inspiration board.

Here's Jenny:

"I sat down with my editor and my designer and I gave them a mood board of a bunch of images I liked. I wanted something pretty and classic and nostalgic.

"My editor let me give a lot of input, which I will be forever grateful for. I got to pick the models, which is basically like choosing which Barbie doll should go with which Ken doll-- soooo fun. The hardest character to cast was Jeremiah, because apparently blond teenage male models are in short supply in NY. It took us a while to find the right one, but in the end, I loved who we picked. I especially loved the girl, because she was so fresh and sweet-looking and also she has those adorable freckles.

"They ended up doing the shoot at Coney Island. They shot like, a million pictures and the one we picked was literally right at the end of the roll. The sun was setting, and even though you couldn't see the beach, there was just this beautiful beachy light. It felt like summer to me.

"The first time I saw the cover, I could not stop staring at it. Love at first sight, I swear. And I continue to be in love with it!"

I love how involved Jenny got to be with her photo shoot--the most involved I've heard with an author so far! Casting models? Awesome. And yes, this looks like golden moments of summer to me for sure. Sigh.

What do you guys think? Does it say summer to you?