Young Adult Fiction for Adults discussion

As many of you know, I'm obsessed with book covers...

I came across this GREAT site where the blogger is posting 1980s YA book covers. So far she's done A,B, and C authors, with obviously a lot more to come!
http://cliqueypizza3.wordpress.com/20...

It's interesting to see how much book covers have changed. Although some of the ones on the page I've linked are (IMHO) really not that good overall, I'm fascinated by the quality of the illustrations, some of which are almost photographic in style (and no, I don't mean the photos! LOL)

On the 'B' page, I love the Judy Blume covers, and remember that Tiger's Eye one so well!

Then, for some really cringe-worthy 80s nostalgia, check out these 'awards' - LOL! https://cliqueypizza.wordpress.com/20...

Enjoy!

Ah, and there's a separate set of pages for series books. (It says YA but some are in fact mid-grade, like Babysitter's Club)
https://cliqueypizza.wordpress.com/80...

I like that they used artwork instead of photographs. Some are really nice - today I suppose they would be considered "corny".

Terry I'll tell you what one fo my professors said, "i believe in the power of cheese." corny is good at times :)

IMO some of them are corny ;) ... but there are also ones that are truly beautiful. I love artwork, too!

What is a massive shame is that the book cover artists were seldom credited! I've been trying to find out who some of my favourite illustrators are, but I haven't been having much luck with it. These days, book cover artists generally are credited somewhere in the book, but that didn't seem to happen much pre-2000s.

That's really sad that they didn't credit them!! How could they get away with that?

LMAO...I saw this one and thought the G was a C for a second.

Hahahaha Stacia I did the same thing!!

Stacia ~ candy girl wrote: "LMAO...I saw this one and thought the G was a C for a second."
I bet we never would have thought of that if we were mid-graders! LOL

Ottilie wrote: "That's really sad that they didn't credit them!! How could they get away with that? "
Well, it wasn't really a case of 'getting away with' as generally cover illustrators were NOT credited... any any genre! I'm not sure what the reasoning was... maybe because the illustrators were hired for a one-time flat fee and were not part of the profit/royalties breakdown!

It really is a shame though, especially as I'd love to contact some of these illustrators and tell them how much I loved their work. But in most cases I don't even know who they are, let alone how to contact them!

I also collect pulp fiction paperbacks (1960s thrillers and espionage) for the covers, and it's the same deal... generally I can only find out who the illustrator was if it's someone famous, like Robert McGinnis... and even then, he wasn't credited IN the books, it's just that he amassed so many fans!

That's just really sad not to credit them like that none the less.

Yes, but the beauty of the internet is that these illustrators can now (finally!) identify their work via their sites, if they want.
...and fans can create sites to do the same!

From the fan point of view, though, tracking down illustrators can be REALLY difficult; I once emailed Penguin books to try to find one of my faves, but as the book in question was from the 1970s, they said it was unlikely they'd even have records of who the illustrator was!
...Shocking!

Wow! I haven't heard of a single one of these books. Where was I? I suppose, though, that I was reading this level of book back in the seventies instead of the 80's. I'm afraid to think of what the seventies covers looked like!

hee hee... I wasn't born till 81 so I'm afraid most of the covers are a little before my time however...

I DO have an old-cover version of the The Black Cauldronthis series, and the Man who was Poe... mostly because I used to BE one lol!

I don't recognize all that many of the covers apart from the Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Ellen Conford books (all favourite authors when I was that age) -- but what I do recognize are the different cover styles. Funny to see how much those have changed!