Sometimes with Cover Curiosities we have two jackets that look very similar. Other times it’s more of a general trend. Today is the latter. Look out socks, relaxing on the lawn is gaining steam. Take a look at the recent evidence collected: The Center of Everything by Linda Urban After Eli by Rebecca Rupp Criss [...]

Now, please don’t be alarmed when you see this goofy-looking guy on your September issue of School Library Journal: How did we get here? I wrote a series of posts about the e-reader lending program we started at my 5th and 6th grade school last year. It was a small start, but things went pretty [...]

Is that a cover trend I see? I can’t quite tell – it’s so bright. Let’s take a look at three examples. Ask the Passengers by A.S. King Peace, Locomotion by Jacquiline Woodson The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano I feel like there are more examples of this out there – any to [...]

Is canning things other than delicious foods the hot new activity for youngsters? Looking at these five recent or upcoming book covers, you’d think so. Flowers, spiders, hummingbirds, kids – where are the strawberry preserves!? Many thanks to Cindy Dobrez of Bookends for the heads up on this trend. Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky Keeping Safe [...]

I ask you this -  are sashes a cover trend on the rise? Cover the first: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray Cover two: Prettiest Doll by Gina Willner-Pardo (on shelves November 6, 2012) Side by side: The sashes have it. Are there any more that belong in this group? Click here for more Cover Curiosities.

‘Scuse me while I talk YA covers for a minute… Most Cover Curiosities, be they socks, Converse sneakers, or longingly gazing into the distance, are unexpected but not really all that unusual. Today we have a pair that are both unusual and unexpected. This comparison is unusupected. With all credit to Lisa Jenn Bigelow for [...]

There are two people I’ve been told I look like. 1. Bronson Pinchot Aw, yeah – that’s right. Pinchot is best known as Balki from the late 80s/early 90s sitcom Perfect Strangers. While most people would not take this as a particularly flattering comparison, I used to watch that show like it was going out [...]

Whether consciously tapping into a popular trend or completely by coincidence, some book covers just look like each other. Today we have two covers that jumped out at me. Let’s have a look… The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone. And our second cover… One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt Side by [...]

While not exactly spitting images of one another, today’s trio of covers share a distinct bond that is difficult to deny. Unless you do deny, in which case we will have to politely agree to disagree, as librarian custom dictates all disagreements must be settled. All three are pleasing to the eyes of this humble [...]

About a year or so into my Cover Curiosities run, I came across Pop Culture Junkie, a blog I would come to know as the Champion of Stock Photo Book Cover Lookalikes. Seriously, I don’t even know how she does it. Puts my “heh, hey – these books vaguely resemble each other” pairings to shame. [...]

Usually for Cover Curiosities, I highlight a straight-up “this cover looks kinda like that cover” situation. Today we have more of a trend. But it isn’t gothic gates, holding stuff, or socks. No, today’s middle grade/YA trend is about kids hanging out in trees. Here are three examples – got any more to add? Number [...]

Shhh! Our first cover curiosity of the new year is a rare picture book/chapter book pairing. We must be very quiet, or we’ll scare them away. First up… Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin And to complete the pair… The Magic Brush by Kat Yeh, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee Side by [...]

Q: What only shows its legs, wears jeans, and is red all over? A: Wolf Mark by Joseph Bruchac Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes Side by Side: Not a spot-on match, but these covers sport similarities that are hard to deny. Click here for more Cover Curiosities.

If the following covers indicate anything, it’s that indoor/outdoor temperature differences are becoming a huge problem in young adult literature. How else to explain this sort of condensation? First up… You Are My Only by Beth Kephart Second up… My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson *Update* And thanks to a heads up [...]

I’m amazed how some folks can find covers that use the same stock photography (the blog Pop Culture Junkie does an exceedingly excellent job of this). Most of the covers I pair up tend to be more like how Top Chef‘s Tom Colicchio looks like Jon Scieszka – eerily close, but not the same (or [...]