A change for the better

In a previous blog post I commented on the furor over the jacket photo on the book Liar. Now a story in Publisher's Weekly tells us that the publisher, Bloomsbury, has listened to the complaints from bloggers, librarians, and readers and has promised a new cover for the book. The issue was whether a book about an African-American girl should have a cover showing a white girl with long, straight hair covering part of her face. The original explanation was that the cover represented the way the character was hiding the truth from others, but while that rings true psychologically, the difference between having a photo of a white girl or one who looks like the book's character is more important than the pose. Every reader expects a photo on a book cover to represent the characters in the book Bloomsbury wouldn't have used a teenaged boy to represent the character no matter how nicely he might illustrate the trait of hiding the truth. Characteristics like gender and race are just too important to ignore. It's good to see Bloomsbury has recognized that fact.