Cover Musings
I usually entitle a post like this, Cover Coincidence, because I really thought I caught another when I had this, "Haven't I seen you before," moment upon reading Betsy Bird's Albert Whitman Spring Preview post on Fuse#8. However, after I pulled up the covers in question, I realized it was more "one of these things is not like the other," rather than a true coincidence.
The Lifeguard by Deborah Blumenthal. 268 p. Albert Whitman & Company, March 1, 2012. (It's already for sale on the BN site.)
Publisher synopsis: It's an unsettled summer for Sirena. Back in Texas, her family's splitting apart, but here in Rhode Island, at the cottage of her free-spirited aunt, it's a different world. There are long days at the beach and intriguing encounters with him. Pilot. He's the lifeguard with shamanic skills. He both saves her and makes her feel lost at sea. Sirena explores her obsession with Pilot and discovers his mysterious--almost magical--gifts.
Sounds like a nice beach read. And, the cover is gorgeous, certainly pleasing to find in my blog feeder at 6 AM on a Friday. I must say, though, that the boy on the cover did not scream life guard as much as beach bum or surfer dude. I do admit that my experience being "guarded" at the beach is limited to the one beach where we own a home, but the lifeguards there wear red swimming trunks, not board shorts. The better to swim unencumbered to a victim.
Still, there's something zen about the pose, which fits the synopsis. And, it is the total opposite mood-wise to the two covers I recollected:
The Lifeguard by Deborah Blumenthal. 268 p. Albert Whitman & Company, March 1, 2012. (It's already for sale on the BN site.)
Publisher synopsis: It's an unsettled summer for Sirena. Back in Texas, her family's splitting apart, but here in Rhode Island, at the cottage of her free-spirited aunt, it's a different world. There are long days at the beach and intriguing encounters with him. Pilot. He's the lifeguard with shamanic skills. He both saves her and makes her feel lost at sea. Sirena explores her obsession with Pilot and discovers his mysterious--almost magical--gifts.
Sounds like a nice beach read. And, the cover is gorgeous, certainly pleasing to find in my blog feeder at 6 AM on a Friday. I must say, though, that the boy on the cover did not scream life guard as much as beach bum or surfer dude. I do admit that my experience being "guarded" at the beach is limited to the one beach where we own a home, but the lifeguards there wear red swimming trunks, not board shorts. The better to swim unencumbered to a victim.
Still, there's something zen about the pose, which fits the synopsis. And, it is the total opposite mood-wise to the two covers I recollected: