Book Wars a weekly feature hosted between two book review blogs – A Life Bound By Books & Much Loved Books!
It’s a fact that book lovers know all about the covers of the books they covet. Often when a title is released here in the UK, it’s sometimes vastly different across the pond in the US. So, Michelle from Much Loved Books and I have come together to create Book Wars to talk about the difference in covers when it comes to the US vs. UK versions.
We hope from time to time authors will chime in with their thoughts as well. We welcome everyone to comment and share their thoughts too! The more the merrier!
Before we get to this weeks Book Wars, we have a winner to announce. The Book Wars winner for Parallel by Lauren Miller was US which won by a landslide. Thank you to everyone who voted for both books, and for picking a winner.
Also, there's a poll at the bottom of the post that we'd love to hear your input for the two covers! Tell us which one YOU love the most.
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| Left: US - Right: UK |
Author: Helen Phillips
Publisher: US - Delacorte Books for Young Readers , 304 Pages, (November 13th 2012), UK - Chicken House Books, 352 Pages, (March 1st 2014)
Add to Goodreads: Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green | Upside Down in the Jungle
Order online here: USA: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository UK: Amazon UK, Waterstones, W H Smith, The Book Depository
Synopsis: Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me said this book is "brimming with surprises and grand adventure. Brave, smart, and full of heart, Madeline and Ruby are a gust of fresh air."
Mad's dad is the Bird Guy. He'll go anywhere to study birds. So when he's offered a bird-tracking job in Central America, his bags are packed and he's jungle bound.
But going bird tracking in the jungle and disappearing completely are very different things, and when the Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter arrives, Mad can't shake the terrible feeling that her father is in trouble.
Roo, Mad's younger sister, is convinced that the letter is a coded message. And their mom is worried, because the letter doesn't sound like Dad at all. But Mad is sure it's a sign of something sinister.
The only way to get to the bottom of it is to go to Lava Bird Volcano and find their dad themselves. Though they never could have imagined what they're about to discover.
About the author:
HELEN PHILLIPS is the author of And Yet They Were Happy and the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award, the Meridian Editors Prize, and the Italo Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in PEN America, Brooklyn Magazine, Mississippi Review, Sonora Review, Salt Hill, and L Magazine, among others, and in the anthology American Fiction: The Best Previously Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Authors. A graduate of Yale and the Brooklyn College MFA program, she now teaches undergraduate creative writing at Brooklyn College. Originally from Colorado, she lives in Brooklyn.
Find Helen Online: Website | Twitter
Let the Wars Begin: Its now time to make our decision, let's see what we think about the covers and pick our favorite cover.
Helen
What’s really great about the US and UK covers/titles being so different is that people often assume I wrote two books.
I could never pick a favorite between the two covers—they’re so different it’s hard to compare. The US cover is representational and dramatic, emphasizing the physical element of the girls’ adventure as they stride forth into the mysterious landscape. The UK cover is more playful and subtle, emphasizing the secret code element of their adventure—the cover itself looks like a puzzle that needs to be solved.
I love the glowing baubles and floating sunbeams on the US cover. I love the overlay of the realistic animals and leaves on the UK cover.
As far as the titles go: there’s one version of myself as a young reader that would have been enticed by Upside Down in the Jungle, and another version that would have preferred Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green. Personally, I wanted to call the book The Weirdness, but both publishers disagreed with that idea …
I could never pick a favorite between the two covers—they’re so different it’s hard to compare. The US cover is representational and dramatic, emphasizing the physical element of the girls’ adventure as they stride forth into the mysterious landscape. The UK cover is more playful and subtle, emphasizing the secret code element of their adventure—the cover itself looks like a puzzle that needs to be solved.
I love the glowing baubles and floating sunbeams on the US cover. I love the overlay of the realistic animals and leaves on the UK cover.
As far as the titles go: there’s one version of myself as a young reader that would have been enticed by Upside Down in the Jungle, and another version that would have preferred Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green. Personally, I wanted to call the book The Weirdness, but both publishers disagreed with that idea …
Lisa I haven't heard of this book, but after checking out both covers they are both pretty cute! I love how adventurous and mysterious the US cover looks.
The UK cover has a more of a cute feel. It makes me feel like it's a journal or a book cover someone's doodled on and I love it too!!!
Wow, this is the hardest week/vote for me yet, I'm so torn!
Okay... I think my vote for this week goes to the US cover. It gives me a little bit more than the UK cover does. I like that we get a peek at the sisters on their adventure. US cover for me this week! Now, what's YOUR vote?
The UK cover has a more of a cute feel. It makes me feel like it's a journal or a book cover someone's doodled on and I love it too!!!
Wow, this is the hardest week/vote for me yet, I'm so torn!
Okay... I think my vote for this week goes to the US cover. It gives me a little bit more than the UK cover does. I like that we get a peek at the sisters on their adventure. US cover for me this week! Now, what's YOUR vote?
Michelle
This is a tough one for me this week as I am not sure which cover I actually like the best.
The UK version seems like its aimed more at a younger age than what I usually read, but I do like how bright, colourful and eye catching it is.
The USA version portrays the feeling that this book would be an epic adventure waiting for you to open the pages and begin reading, but I'm not sure how eye catching it would be on a shelf.
My vote today will do down as shelfability in a shop, and I think the UK version is more likely to draw my attention than the USA one will.
The UK version seems like its aimed more at a younger age than what I usually read, but I do like how bright, colourful and eye catching it is.
The USA version portrays the feeling that this book would be an epic adventure waiting for you to open the pages and begin reading, but I'm not sure how eye catching it would be on a shelf.
My vote today will do down as shelfability in a shop, and I think the UK version is more likely to draw my attention than the USA one will.
VOTE for YOUR favorite cover of Here Where the Sunbeams are Green/Upside Down in the Jungle NOW!
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