Cover Stories: Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

Miss Erin recently reviewed Siobhan Vivian's two novels, and today, Siobhan shares the Cover Story behind her spring release, Same Difference:

"I was extremely anxious about the cover for SAME DIFFERENCE when my editor called me into his office for a meeting to brainstorm possible directions. At the time, I was just about to finish up the first draft of the book, and the story still wasn't clicking together the way I wanted it to. If my editor had asked me any questions about theme or whatever, I probably would have had a complete meltdown.

"But part of me hoped that if we did come up with something amazing for a cover, it could act like a lighthouse, and I could follow that beam of light through the fog and arrive safely on the shores. To me, covers and titles can help in that way. They can bring clarity, focus.

"Anyhow, my editor pitched me a couple of concepts. These are the two I remember: 1) A photograph of a girl, painting her self-portrait. You wouldn't see her actual face, only the portrait. 2) A photograph of a girl from the waist down, carrying her art portfolio which would be covered in a bunch of random stickers.

"On the surface, these felt like okay solutions. After all, SAME DIFFERENCE was a book about a girl who goes to a summer art program--which was also the stock answer I'd been giving to people who asked what my new book was about. But I wasn't completely sold either. Their ideas seemed so art-heavy. And I wondered if that kind of approach would alienate readers who didn't find that kind of experience interesting.

"It challenged me to dig to the heart of my story. And I quickly realized that even though SAME DIFFERENCE had art in it, art it wasn't the crux of the story. The meat and bones were Emily's journey as she tried to figure herself out. A girl stuck between two worlds, two friends.

"Hmmm... I ran home and went onto the stock photo sites and started doing some research. I typed in TEEN and GIRL and REFLECTION. A couple interesting pictures came up. But when I saw the one that would turn out to be my cover.

"First off, the girl was PERFECT. I mean, she was beautiful...but she also still looked like a normal girl. (This has always been so important in my covers! Real girls only!) And I loved the reflection, and watching her step out of the glass and leave a version of herself behind. Totally a slam dunk, IMHO! I sent the photo to my editor, who shared it with the design team. Everyone agreed it was perfect.

"Finding that cover definitely gave me the clarity to push through the rest of my first draft with confidence. Once I found out who Emily really was, there was no looking back!"

"And... I got a FaceBook message from the model! She lives in South Africa and a friend found my book and recognized her. She was so excited, and I was too! Here she is, and her name is Marcelle."

"Also, someone had commented on my LJ a long time ago that they

thought she looked familiar from another cover,

Busted: Confessions of an Accidental Player by Antony John. I couldn't tell for sure, but sent her the link.

Turns out it IS her...and her brother. So she went from ZERO to a cover star of two YA books in a matter of minutes!"

How cool is that? Love meeting-the-model stories. And, I love how Siobhan had to dig deeper into her story to find the right cover. Nice!

What do you guys think?

Rgz Street Team: Miss Erin Reviews A Little Friendly Advice and Same Difference, by Siobhan Vivian

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, Miss Erin reviews A Little Friendly Advice and Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian!

A Little Friendly Advice begins on the eve of Ruby's 16th birthday. Her mom's given her a present, all of her friends have arrived, and she's gearing up for a fun night. That is, until her dad--who she hasn't seen since he left her and her mom, years ago--shows up at the apartment. Pretty soon it feels like all the relationships in her life are unraveling, and Ruby doesn't know who to turn to or what to do.

A Little Friendly Advice was refreshing in that its focus was on relationships with friends and family, which are two of the biggest factors in a teenager's life. But usually those themes tend to get neglected in a lot of YA books to make room for a focus on problems/issues (which are factors too, but always alongside friend-and-family relationships) and romance. When a boy does show up in Ruby's life, he doesn't suddenly sweep her off her feet and solve all of her problems. That relationship is muddy and unclear, too. Complicated. The book really nailed how, as you grow older, relationships that used to be black and white - with relatives, or with friends - suddenly aren't clear-cut anymore. Suddenly there's angst and grayness.

Read the rest of this review on Miss Erin's blog here.

Same Difference centers around the main character Emily's adventures at a summer art camp in Philadelphia. It's a coming-of-age story in the true sense: throughout the book, Emily undergoes a complete transformation of self, the way she sees the world, and the way she sees the people and world around her.

This book started off a little slow for me, but I'm so glad I stuck with it, because I enjoyed it a lot. Just as with the author's first book, I loved and was grateful for the focus being on the friendship vs. romance. Yeah, there was a romance, but it wasn't the sole defining experience of Emily's time at the art program.

The best thing about Same Difference was all the wonderful themes it explored. For instance, it showed that transitional time of being a teenager; the defining moment when you realize that your world is a slate that you can experiment and draw on, and if you don't like what you are right now, you can erase and start over. But you also realize that even if you want to start completely over, there's stuff you can't simply make go away. You can change yourself, but you can't (as much as you might want to) make the people around you change. Sometimes you can't even make them realize that you've changed.

Read the rest of this review on Miss Erin's blog here.

rgz Street Team: Miss Erin Reviews Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, Miss Erin reviews Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian, which is a postergirlz recommended read this month:

"Same Difference centers around the main character Emily's adventures at a summer art camp in Philadelphia. It's a coming-of-age story in the true sense: throughout the book, Emily undergoes a complete transformation of self, the way she sees the world, and the way she sees the people and world around her.

"This book started off a little slow for me, but I'm so glad I stuck with it, because I enjoyed it a lot. Just as with the author's first book, I loved and was grateful for the focus being on the friendship vs. romance. Yeah, there was a romance, but it wasn't the sole defining experience of Emily's time at the art program.

"The best thing about Same Difference was all the wonderful themes it explored. For instance, it showed that transitional time of being a teenager; the defining moment when you realize that your world is a slate that you can experiment and draw on, and if you don't like what you are right now, you can erase and start over. But you also realize that even if you want to start completely over, there's stuff you can't simply make go away. You can change yourself, but you can't (as much as you might want to) make the people around you change. Sometimes you can't even make them realize that you've changed.

To read the rest of Miss Erin's review, click here.