http://www.bloomsburykids.com/books/catalog/magic_under_glass_hc_306

The cover will be changed, per Bloomsbury:

Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of Magic Under Glass. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available shortly.

http://www.bloomsburykids.com/books/catalog/magic_under_glass_hc_306

….

As an aside, I came across this piece the other day and thought what a great book cover it would make:

http://cghub.com/images/view/47473

Ees gorgeous and beautiful and shiny….and features a woman of colour.

I definitely want to support Jackie, who just wrote a book she loved and had little to no say over the cover it received. But I don’t want to support whitewashing covers. *sigh*

How many times do we have to say “only white people” sell is not true before it stops? That it’s hurtful and racist and simply inaccurate?

I don’t know. I’m glad Ari’s wonderful letter was quoted in Salon, though. That’s something. And I’m glad you spoke up, Justine, even though I agree that journalists should seek out the people affected most. That’s also something.

Interviews/ProfilesStar Wars Books interviews Paul S. Kemp.The Dragon Page interviews Jake Black (podcast).Jo Walton interviews Steven Brust.Robert Freeman Wexler interviews Carol Emshwiller.Rain Taxi interviews Brian Evenson.MTV interviews Tron Legacy…

The criteria they cared about? The cover’s color scheme (not the people, but the fonts and backgrounds), whether or not the title was readable, whether or not the title was stupid, and the cover and/or title’s catch-your-eye-ness. Several of the girls said they tend to avoid books with “chick-lit” looking covers, and one admitted that she dismisses covers that simply “look stupid”. Not a one of them would be reluctant to pick up a book because the model on the cover wasn’t white.

And that was just picking up the book. Decisions about whether they would actually *buy* the book were based on genre, sales pitch (the bit on the back or the inside flap), and word of mouth. By that point they often knew (from skimming, or word of mouth, or sometimes even from the blurb) if the actual character was a person of color, and it mattered not one bit.

So before publishers claim that “black covers” don’t sell, they should take into account all the readers who have, you know, *bought* those books and would do so again.

A side note: I agree with those people who say that rather than boycott white-washed covers, better to simply go out of your way to buy non-white covers. That is, of course, if you don’t already. Buy them for your friends, too. And it wouldn’t hurt to ask your fave library to stock a copy. *hint hint*

I purchased Magic Under Glass the week it was released because Jaclyn Dolamore’s story appealed to me. As I read it, I was pleased to find that the dark-skinned protagonist is confident, compassionate, and proud of her heritage despite the discrimination she faces as a person of color in a foreign land. Her ethnicity is not the main theme of the novel but it is definitely relevant to the story, and that makes the white-washed cover all the more upsetting. That cover effectively undermines the main character’s confidence & robs her of her ethnicity. Within the fictional narrative she is free to be dark-skinned & lovely & confident, but when it comes time to display her image to the public & give her ‘shelf appeal’, the publisher consciously choses to alter her race. The message that type of misrepresentation sends to young readers is disturbing and disheartening.

I fully support the idea of sending a strong message to the publisher, and I have sent Bloomsbury a letter myself. But I do not believe that boycotting a book which features a dark-skinned protagonist is the best way to get more books with ethnically diverse characters onto bookstore shelves. Also, I truly believe that the author (who is not at all responsible for that white-washed cover image) would suffer more than the publisher from the sales lost due to a boycott. Especially since this is her debut novel, I fear that low sales numbers are likely to be mistaken for a lack of interest in the story itself, rather than a reflection of people’s reaction to the cover image. A clear & precise message is vital to a successful boycott, and I think that would be very tricky in the case of a debut author without a proven sales history.

Instead, I would definitely encourage people to write letters to the publisher and to ask their friends & family members to write to the publisher (whether they are interested in this particular novel or not). Mention your concerns about white-washing & the general lack of POC book covers to your local booksellers & librarians too. And if you have already purchased Magic Under Glass, consider mailing the dust jacket back to Bloomsbury with a note letting them know that you are pleased to see that they’ve published a lovely story with a dark-skinned protagonist but that you are terribly disappointed in their appallingly white-washed cover. Be sure to point out that if their covers continue to be white-washed, you will not continue to purchase their books. Snail mail is harder to ignore than email & flooding the publisher with discarded dust jackets makes a statement about the specific reason that they will be losing business.

What you can do right now is start buying and reading way more books by people of colour. Tanita S. Davis’s Mare’s War is highly acclaimed. I loved Sherri S. Smith’s Flygirl. Jacqueline Woodson is a gorgeous, gorgeous writer. Her If You Come Softly is one of my favourite books. But you can find even more recs by going to Ari’s blog and following the links.

What is most frustrating to me as I read the opinions and comments, here and elsewhere, is how powerless I feel. What can I do? How can I help? I just don’t know.

Wow, do I feel sheepish. granted, it’s been a few years since I read those books. I have no memory of the brownness of Yelena.

Perhaps I should not have fretted so much the other week over no one noticing my black character was black. (Everyone read “dark skin” as “Italian.” Le sigh.)

I doubt Bloomsbury will worry and not to shoot myself in the foot, but my first thought was the message. A boycott sends a message. My second was the boycott is personal.

I appreciate you and all the authors who disagree but respect my choice to decide how I fight.

That sentence itself sums everything up so perfectly. That’s what I wrote on my blog about the controversy as well. Kids should have role models that look like them. That’s all.