Unfortunate Covers (#7)
What you see above is my all-time favorite bad album cover. Believe it or not, this was hanging on my wall for the duration of my junior and senior years of college. The difference between this bad album cover and the latest Unfortunate Cover is what’s on the inside. The record that was inside the sleeve you see above? Not good. The book inside of your typical Unfortunate Cover? Closer to the good-to-great level. To see what I mean, take a look at past Unfortunate Cover picks:
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So which cover art will be joining this group? I may upset some folks by choosing this:
“The Treasure Tower”, Hardy Boys #1.
This cover, by itself, is not that unfortunate. Personally, I don’t mind it. My problem is that it is still the most common cover for this title in 2008. Retro can be good, but this is pushing it.
The second problem I have with making this pick is that I pretty much wore the same clothes to work today that you see on the Hardy Boys. But I’m a librarian – destined to be clothed in corduroy, wool, and tweed for all of my days. It is the burden I bear. Most kids don’t identify with this look. Despite the fact that it’s an entertaining read, it’s difficult to entice young readers to give this one a shot – the cover is doing no favors.
Filed under: Unfortunate Covers
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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