Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Covers

In our Teen Lit Club, we talk about cover trends that occur in YA books: the torso trend, overused stock photos, girls looking over their shoulders. People say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but it happens everyday...especially in teen lit. The following covers definitely caught my eye.


10. Flush by Carl Hiaasen
It's simple, whimsical, yet perfectly captures the problem within the pages.













9. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone
Barbie is such an iconic figure, and this cover immediately catches a browser's eye. I like their choice of retro Barbie rather than a more contemporary version of the doll. That sly, slanted look in her eye and the sharp arch of her brows makes me think that Barbie knows something I don't.







8. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
This one is so beautifully spare that it doesn't even need words. Lovely story too.










7. The Deep by Claire Nouvian
This cover is beautiful and alluring, merely hinting at the deep ocean wonders that lie within. It's a giant coffee-table sized book that's hard not to pick up.










6. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Christopher Stengel designed not only this beautiful cover but also one for Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, another one of my favorite covers. This one is lovely with its sky full of stars that speak of possibilities and hope.







5. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
No matter where you stand on the series and its literary weight, there's no denying the powerful allure of the cover on the book that started it all. Its allusion to forbidden fruit has become so symbolic of Edward and Bella's saga that director Catherine Hardwicke made sure to include it in the film adaptation of Twilight.







4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
It's a beautiful yet forbidding peek into the deadly maze that surrounds the relative safety of the Glade. The moss covered spikes of the gate speak strangely of both safety and danger. I like the complexity of this seemingly innocuous image.







3. Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee
Not only is it chocolate but it's gorgeous chocolate. What more does a cover need?












2. Abarat by Clive Barker
Not only did Clive Barker write this highly imaginative story about a world of islands that exist in each hour of the day, but he also hand-painted the fantastic illustrations that grace the cover and are sprinkled throughout the book. Perhaps that's why we've been waiting so long for book three, which is slated to be released later this year!







1. Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer
This is another one of those covers where beauty and menace exist in the same image, and its utterly compelling. I guess I have a thing for blue covers as well, since it's the fifth blue cover on the list. I find myself staring at this one whenever I come across it.






What are some of your favorite covers?