Alcatraz cover art?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Over at Ken Jennings' blog he said the following:

The cover art he showed us made me think Scholastic is hoping Alcatraz will be The Next Harry Potter, so maybe Brandon will be a billionaire this time next year.

Has there been a thread on this before that I just missed? Or are you not allowed to share this information on the intertubes yet?

[EUOL]

Tentative Mock up here:

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Ha ha ha ha...I like it a lot! Nice face in the lens.

Karen says he looks way too much like Harry Potter and should have a different haircut/hair color...

[Shuez]

I am buying this book; I like what I heard at Brandon's Reading. I am also making a friend of mine purchase it since she reads alot of 'young adult' fiction 

I sincerely hope it sells substantially, generates a positive buzz, and gives Brandon at least 5% of the monetary success that J.K. Rowlings has experienced!

[EUOL]

Thanks, Shuez!

Ookla, 

I tried and tried to get them to make his hair to be blonde, or at least have blonde highlights, but Scholastic said.  "That's silly.  He looks nothing like Harry Potter!  And...uh...if he did, it wouldn't be intentional at all.  Nope."

I think I'm out of luck there, though I can't complain too much, since I love the cover otherwise. 

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I think it's a pretty awesome cover and have no problem with how Potterian he looks.

[Spriggan]

He actually looks surprisingly like EUOL when he was that age which I think is cool.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Ooh, the conspiracy deepens! Scholastic obviously has access to some Librarian time travel device--this is obviously all a clever attempt at misdirection by hiding the truth in plain sight.

[Shuez]

It really is a fantastic cover. I mentioned in the Mistborn paperback thread how covers affect my decision to buy a book from an author I am not familiar with. The Elantris cover, made me buy the book. If I did not already know Brandon's work, then the Mistborn cover would have influenced me to purchase the book. Again--If I did not already know Brandon's work--the Alcatraz cover sitting in the 'new arrivals' section of B&N or Borders would emphatically make me purchase this book.

[Chimera]

I love this cover!

However, if I were EUOL, I also would have asked to make Alcatraz look less Harry-Potter-ish. Why couldn't he have blonde hair? Or a lighter shade of brown? Or even brown eyes--not greeny blue, which also tie back to Potter. What's wrong with the blonde, brown eyed children of the world?!? (I ask this partly because I was a blonde, brown eyed child when I was young.  )

[Peter Ahlstrom]

My younger sister is a so-dark-brown-it's-almost-black-eyed blonde! Coincidence? I think not!

[Tink]

I *really* like this cover and I think  it will attract people. I know that that is what attracted me to the Harry Potter books. I remember walking through the BYU bookstore, seeing it on a display, and thinking, "That looks like an interesting book. I should check it out." Surprisingly I had not heard of Harry Potter at this point. Anyway, it was finals and so I didn't have time right then, but when I went home for Christmas, my sister had it and because I recognized that it was the same book from the store, I immediately read it.

My only issue with the cover is the title, "The Battle over the Bag of Sand." What happened to the Sands of Rashid? Sounds much cooler than bag of sand. Other than that, it looks very cool.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

But the new subtitle sounds goofy, a point in its favor. (Though the "o" in "over" should be lowercased.) "Rashid" may prove unpronounceable for many children.

[stacer]

Oh, I'm sure they'd catch on. We're talking middle schoolers, so that sort of thing I really don't worry about.

[dawncawley]

I like the cover art for this book very much If I had children in this age range I would definitely buy it for them. I might just buy it for them now and let them grow into it. After I get to read it first that is