This doesn't mean that they can get away with just anything to sell a book to teens (because if that were the case, hello, freaking Robert Pattinson would be on the cover of every YA novel), but it does mean that cover designers are working within a marketing context.īefore you get upset and say, 'But I am a consumer who wants to see more diversity! I would buy books with people of color on them!' - I assure you that I'm not talking about you. And yet, there are a few things that I think is important to remember.īook covers are advertisements. And those curlicues on Tiger's Curse look quite South Asian to me.)Ī lot of commentary laments the low percentage of books with people of color on the covers (and yes, it is low), especially in comparison to the huge number of YA novels (fantasy and otherwise) featuring slim, attractive white girls. There is a Chinese character on the cover of Eona.

(It is harder to tell in this small images, but the dagger on Fury of the Phoenix is engraved with a Chinese character. I think that's actually quite an astonishing percentage.Īmong those 11 books, two are represented by covers that clearly feature people of color:Īnother three include distinct Asian elements that echo the books' Asian inspirations: That's 19% of YA fantasy novels being published from January-April 2011. So, that's 11 books that incorporate racial and/or sexual diversity. Three include main or major supporting gay characters: Among those 57, nine include main or major supporting characters of color: (Warning: this is a looong post!)įrom January to April 2011, I counted 57 young adult fantasy novels being published by all the major American book publishers.

My reaction is sorta complicated, and since whitewashing YA covers continues to be discussed in the YA book community, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about this. Several commenters immediately noted that they saw a lack of people of color on the book covers, and expressed a desire for more diversity. Today over at the Enchanted Inkpot, I posted a piece about cover trends in this winter's crop of YA fantasy novels.

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves