April Henry's Girl Stolen is about a girl who's asleep in her mom's car when the car is stolen, with her inside. Also, she's blind. Stakes? HIGH.Here's April to talk about the cover:
"I have to confess that I am not good at visualizing covers for my own books. I love book covers and am also married to a graphic designer who asks for feedback, but that's more reacting than acting, so I did not give any input.
"My agent had a comp in hard copy and mine hadn't arrived yet. She told me she loved it. I was dying of curiosity! She managed to take a slightly blurry photo of it with her camera phone and then emailed it to me. When I saw it, I fell in love, too.
"My editor and I discussed little changes. For example, the girl is wearing fingernail polish on the cover. In the book there is no mention of her wearing fingernail polish, but I decided it was something Cheyenne might do to fit in, so I suggested adding a line about it.
"Initially, the polish looked a little uneven, so it was plausible that a blind girl had done it. Then they decided to scuff up her nails so that they looked more like she had been fighting (she's been kidnapped). The cover designer told me that all the fingernail polish, in whatever state, was added in Photoshop.
"We also discussed whether there should be any punctuation on the cover, and I was presented with two covers to choose from.
"The photo is of art director Rich Deas' neighbor. He told me has used her before for other covers. He also told me, 'When possible, I like to create images with my own photos and illustrations. It feels more natural than looking through a million images trying to find something that almost suits what I am looking for.'
[Rich shared the below images with April, which include more of his ideas/mockups that got them to the final cover]:
"I love everything about my cover -- especially the little sliver between two fingers where you can just see her right eye. I hope Rich works on my next cover."
Thanks, April! Girl Stolen is a part of The Contemps Challenge (which you should be accepting right about now, if you haven't already). Hello!
Read April's fascinating interview with Rich about this cover design on her blog. I think this final cover is chilling, and I love the details in it (nail polish, her ring, even the longish sleeves on her shirt, which looks like one of those knit undershirts I always wear in winter). I also love seeing the original ideas and the covers that Rich contemplated.
What do you guys think?