Heeeyyyy! The huge debate and protests had an impact! Bloomsbury has changed the cover for Justine Larbalestier’s forthcoming YA novel, LIAR!
The previous cover was controversial because it showed a white teenaged girl, whereas the book’s protagonist is biracial (black/white.) Larbalestier, who is a white Australian author, tried to change the cover behind the scenes, but when she was unsuccessful, she wrote about it on her blog. The book’s editor threw fuel on the fire of the ensuing controversy by claiming that the cover was intended to deepen the mindf*ck; because the book’s protag, who is a pathological liar, is the one who tells us that she is biracial. Nobody bought that, though.
So now that they’ve caved to pressure, it’s up to us to show them that audiences really DO read books with POC on the cover. Go buy it!