Justine Larbalestier’s new book, Liar, will be published by Bloomsbury in October 2009. 
The early buzz about the book is focusing on Bloomsbury’s choice to have a long haired, white teen on the cover of the book when Micah, the protagonist, identifies herself as a mixed-race tomboy with “nappy” hair.
Before realizing Micah’s race, I thought that this cover conveyed a sense of deception and mystery and tied well into the promise on the jacket flap. But then I started to wonder why the cover would show a girl who is obviously not Micah; unless, of course, Micah was also lying about her race and look? She lies about everything else, including the lies she’s already told, so I thought it couldn’t be that much of a stretch to tell us she’s one thing and then be totally another. In the end, I decided that it didn’t bother me so much that the cover is wrong (or another lie), but I can see how some readers would get pretty mad/frustrated by the choice. Too bad Bloomsbury didn’t just use the Australian cover, which I think is much better anyway (Red & white blurry text of Liar).
Publisher’s Weekly has an interesting article on the storm that’s brewing about this choice and the controversy its been stirring up, both in bookstores and on the blogosphere
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- Posted by Cori
Update: 8/8/09 – Bloomsbury has annouced that they will change the cover of Liar; “We regret that our original creative direction for Liar—which was intended to symbolically reflect the narrator’s complex psychological makeup—has been interpreted by some as a calculated decision to mask the character’s ethnicity. . . In response to this concern, and in support of the author’s vision for the novel, Bloomsbury has decided to re-jacket the hardcover edition with a new look in time for its publication in October. It is our hope that the important discussions about race and its representation in teen literature continue. As the publisher of Liar, we also hope that nothing further distracts from the quality of the author’s nuanced and accomplished story, and that a new cover will allow this novel’s many advocates to celebrate its U.S. publication without reservation.” See Publisher’s Weekly for the full report.