Two recent cover curiosities have me perplexed for the same reason – characters described as decidedly not Caucasian in the text are presented that way on the book jacket. Both are unacceptable.
The first, concerning Jaclyn Dolamore’s YA title Magic Under Glass, has already been nicely discussed and fully linked at Abby (the) Librarian and Chasing Ray. Basically, it breaks down like this. Read the following excerpt from Magic Under Glass (courtesy of Charlotte’s Library):
“I knew how the men of Lorinar thought, what they wanted. To him, I was dark and foreign and crude.” (page 4)
And then take a look at the cover:
It ain’t a match. Not even close. A very disappointing sight to see. Be sure to visit the links above to learn more.
The second controversy is about The Mysterious Benedict Society series, and has been bothering me for a while. A Fuse #8 Production pointed it out a while back, and a post this week at Bookshelves of Doom got me riled up again. The character Sticky Washington, described in the book as having brown skin, has appeared on the covers of the three Benedict titles as such:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
No, it wasn’t enough to make him white, they made him albino with rosy cheeks. Seeing as how this has happened three times, I’m wondering why it has barely made a ripple. Is it due to the fact that it’s a book for younger readers? Probably not. Is it due to the fact that it’s an illustration rather than a photograph? There might be something to that. Or is it just because Sticky is one character out of many and isn’t the focus of the cover? The most likely explanation?
100 Scope Notes 
12 comments
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January 19, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Jen Robinson
I noticed Sticky’s light skin on the Benedict Society cover, too, Travis. And I don’t think that I mentioned it in my reviews. I’m thinking now that I should have. It is ridiculous. I would think that it would ADD to the appeal of the book, to have some diversity in the set of kids.
January 19, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Scope Notes
I’m with you Jen. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s also strange how Sticky gets whiter as the series continues.
January 19, 2010 at 9:58 pm
bestbookihavenotread
This is also a pet peeve of mine. I know that many times the illustrators of covers have usually not read the book. I would think the publishers would be motivated to have covers reflect the characters of the books as accurately as possible.
January 21, 2010 at 1:19 am
Colleen
I’m so glad you guys have caught this one – I totally missed it. It is absurd that this was done – what were they possibly thinking? Who on earth would think this was a good idea?
January 21, 2010 at 7:33 am
Scope Notes
I agree. To me, the Benedict Society situation makes even less sense than the whitewashed covers for Liar or Magic Under Glass. Making Sticky white on The Benedict covers is kinda like when someone tells a really unnecessary lie and you’re left wondering why they did it, because it really didn’t achieve anything.
January 21, 2010 at 1:27 am
Fuse #8
God, I’m glad you brought this up. I was assured a while ago that the fact that Sticky was white on the first cover was a printing error. I never looked at the subsequent books. Betsy angry!
January 21, 2010 at 10:03 am
Scope Notes
Betsy – Were you assured that this was a printing error by your own reasoning, or by someone associated with the book?
January 22, 2010 at 12:47 am
Maggi (Mama Librarian)
Good news! This was posted to Child_Lit.
From a statement sent out by Bloomsbury:
“Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of *Magic Under
Glass*. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our
mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available
shortly.”
I have not heard anything from the publisher regarding the Benedict covers, but I think it’s work making a fuss over. It’s ridiculous.
January 22, 2010 at 6:26 am
Scope Notes
Thanks for sharing this – I’m glad to see it.
January 27, 2010 at 9:39 am
Liz B
In using the term albino, I’d just like to remind people that albinism is a real conditon that children have; with few depictions in TV or film that isn’t “teh evil guy”. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a children’s book that accurately depicts a child with albinism.
January 27, 2010 at 10:56 am
Scope Notes
Good point, Liz. Obviously, nothing derogatory was intended with that comparison. And I’m with you in being unable to come up with an accurate depiction of albinism in children’s lit. A quick search yielded only two titles: “Living with Albinism” by Elaine Landau (nonfiction) and “Wild Ride to Heaven” by Leander Watts (fiction).
February 16, 2010 at 12:03 am
M.Ryan Esposito
I have just written a children’s book about a child with albinism.
It of course is a positive representation of children with albinism, as it was written based on my personal experiences growing up with albinism. I too found that very little was available for young children regarding albinism and I am very excited to share my book with everyone who may be interested in it! It is available from NOAH (The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation – http://www.albinism.org) and can also be purchased from amazon or Barnes & Noble websites. I hope you will take the time to read it and most of all ejnoy it!