2011 YA Speculative Book Covers (Boys)

And by “boy” I mean these covers are more masculine and straightforward,
without a lot of the fluff you’ll see on books targeted to girls.

Please vote for your favorite cover using the poll at the bottom of the post. 

Remember, we’re voting for the COVER, not the story or the author.  
Voting deadline: Midnight, Friday, February 10, 2012.


The Anointed by  C.C. James
Publisher: Red Rover Books
Cover Design: ??
*This is the original cover, I think. If you click the link,
it goes to a different cover which I do not like as well.

Look at those arms. Every guy wants to have arms like those, and every girl wants a boyfriend with arms like those. Okay, my shallowness is showing, but still. Great cover image. I really like how the top of his head is cut off so I can imagine my own face. (That sounds sarcastic, but I’m serious.) I like the blue swirly smoke behind him. I love the font choice and the way the title pops in that dark black. Great cover. (And really, if you are the one making the decisions, please go back to this cover instead of the other one. Please.)

The Death Cure  by  James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte
Cover Design: Philip Straub

At the risk of re-appalling some readers, this is totally a boy cover. My grandson thinks it’s awesome! My granddaughter says, “meh.” I tested it with some neighbor kids and got the same reaction every time. Which is really too bad because I think girls who actually read it will love the story too. What I like about this cover (even though I’m a girl) is the feeling that I’m about to be crushed. Those towers are so high, and the mountain so steep. And then the title and author’s name are so solid and heavy. The fonts are solid too. I personally love it and think it’s the best cover of the series.
 

 Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by  Richard Paul Evans
Publisher: Mercury Ink
Cover Design: ??

I like the clean and isolated feeling of this cover. It matches the subtitle. I like the I in Michael that mirrors the electricity coming off the figure. I like that the young man is in shadow. I like the blues and grays together. It feels sterile and electrical. Very good choices.

 Slayers by C.J. Hill
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Cover Design: ??

I thought this cover was totally cool when I first saw it, even if I had no clue what the illustration actually was. I thought it was a spaceship at first. But when I picked up the book and studied it (yes, it was cool enough to get me to pick it up) I realized that’s a dragon in there. Awesome! I like the font work for Slayers. I like the tag line at the top that you almost miss, but not quite. Sort of a whisper of a warning. Cool. Love it.
Variant by Robison Wells
Publisher: HarperTeen
Cover Design: ??

I’m not even sure I can verbalize what I love about this cover. When I first saw it, I thought, “What? Huh?” Normally, I don’t go for the blurry stuff. And it’s all blue-ish and sort of almost creepy. But. The red in the girls sweater caught my eye. That was kind of awesome. Then I noticed that the boy seems to be running, but the girl is looking behind, like she’s afraid someone or something is after her. Intriguing. And where are they headed in that blurry forest? What’s with that? And “Variant”? What does that mean? And the title is shadowy. You can see through it. It sort of blends, but not quite. That’s cool. Is that a hint for the story? And then. And then. “TRUST NO ONE.” That got me. Hook. Line. Sinker. The tag line pulled all the other items together for me in a way that I had to go get this book. I had to know what was going on in this story. Great, great job of reeling me in!

4 thoughts on “2011 YA Speculative Book Covers (Boys)”

  1. I like Variant, but I like Michael Vey better. It's more evocative of danger and excitement. Bring it on, baby!

  2. I read 4/5 books shown here.I loved all of them. But the covers that I loved the best were Variant and Slayers! hard to choose between the two of them.

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