Guess the race of this book's heroine...
From library-themed ice cream to the role of race in teen book covers, today’s news spans genres and raises interesting questions. And for those of you who voted for NPR’s “100 Best Beach Books Ever,” results are in! See below for details.
- Omnivoracious has the weekly YA news, including a cover contraversy raising a lot of questions. The cover for Justine Larbalestier’s latest book, Liar, is a picture of a pretty girl – nothing surprising about that, but the problem is, the girl on the cover is white, and the main character of the book is black. The inconsistency is soliciting outrage from readers and raising questions about how publishers count on photographic covers of thin, white models to sell books. Justine Larbalestier gives her (thoughtful and articulate) two cents on her blog.
- The votes are in for NPR’s “100 Best Beach Books Ever” poll. Over 16,000 NPR listeners voted for their favorites, creating a final list of 100 books that NPR says “will appeal to… book-loving NPR types.” The Harry Potter series took first place, beating out To Kill a Mockingbird, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and Pride and Prejudice, all in the top 10. The Twilight series came in 30th, and Treasure Island was number 100. View the full list here while you still have a few weeks left of summer reading.
- You may have heard that libraries across the country are petitioning Ben & Jerry’s for a reading-themed ice cream flavor, such as Gooey Decimal System or Sh-sh-sh-Sherbet. These are all tasty suggestions (and are gathering force via Facebook group), but check out the flavors the New Yorker is tossing into the idea hat – one is “Twilit: Pale-white lemon sorbet with red shoestring licorice and the hair of Robert Pattinson.” Let’s hope the library ideas win out…
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