Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

My first analysis has revealed some simple similarities and differences between the 4 covers. I'm going to use 1, 2, 3, and 4 to label the book titles, going across the top left to right and then across the bottom left to right. 1 is a girl sitting alone in what looks to be a garden. 2 is a boat floating on a shallow and desolate beach with some really odd coloring. 3 is a drawing of a human torso with organs visible. 4 is the faded image of a girl in bright blue clothes. 2 and 3 have very similar connotations, as in negative. I would also call them very gloomy. Their purpose is to give off an eerie feeling just by looking at the cover of the book. 1 and 3 go for something different, they definitely don't have the same feeling as 2 and 4. They don't exactly feel positive, because there is still a mystery to it. In their presentation of brighter colors and clearer images, they create a happier expectation for the book.

After looking over all the covers, I decided to compare 3 and 4. The first words that come to my mind when I see 3 is prison camp, or restriction. It makes me think of another book, called Boy in The Striped Pajamas. This is due to the barbed wire and the grey color scheme. 4 brings to mind dance, or twirl. It makes me think of a little girl spinning around in circles, and her dress flaring out while she spins. This is because of the what looks like watercolor image on the cover. If I hadn't read any of the novel and I saw cover 3, I would think that the book was about a much more violent topic and something scarier and more serious than what the book presents. Although the book does address a pretty serious situation, the cover seems to be something else entirely. After reading, the cover makes sense, of course. The organs being exposed and the barbed wire represent how the students are trapped in the schools. Even though they aren't really restricted from leaving, they aren't encouraged. Cover 4 makes me think the book is about a kidnapping. The image paired with the title brings this to mind, especially because of how the girl is portrayed, in a faded painting. Knowing what I do about the book, this can be seen as a portrayal of any of the students, just faded memories who you could happen to remember, you could not. On the cover of 3, it portrays any of the donors who give up their organs, and we look at it from the point of view of the carers, seeing them as a bounty to be reaped. Cover 3 gives an idea of the cultural construction of the book, as in the ideas of a threat versus being safer in their schools. It also helps to see what the kids might see as they learn where their lives are headed no matter what they do. Frankly, 4 doesn't spark any real cultural ideas for me. Please forgive me if somebody found something good and I totally missed it. The kind of people that would make 3 are ones looking for a horror or suspense novel, something to shock a reader's senses into seeing the truth of the donations. Although, as a reader, if I saw this cover and then proceeded to read the book, I might be disappointed with the content. The cover shows a darker theme than I believe is presented in the book's bitter-sweetness. Cover 4 would be made by somebody trying to catch a reader's eye. I think the image of the faded girl could bring some people in looking for a mystery, and as I mentioned before, a kidnapping.