Big day for literature! The ALA Youth Media Awards. Especially excited for my pals:
Dan Santat wins the Caldecott for BEEKLE
Cece Bell's EL DEAFO and Jacqueline Woodson's BROWN GIRL DREAMING win Newbery Honors
Candace Fleming's THE FAMILY ROMANOV wins a Sibert Honor
Jason Reynold honored with the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent for WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST
I always love what I think of as the Newbery morning. Reminds me of the call that woke me up nine years ago. Still such a powerful memory that when I retell the story I tear up. Congrats to all the winners. Though awards aren't everything, honoring books is a great way to remind us of the power of literature.
This year PRINCESS ACADEMY celebrates it's tenth anniversary. The final book in that trilogy, THE FORGOTTEN SISTERS, publishes in just three weeks. Preorder a copy, either ebook or hardcover, from anywhere and get this free poster. See here for more details.
Also announcing the paperback of DANGEROUS, coming in May with a brand new cover. What do you think?
Love the way the letters on Dangerous are blurred!
Posted by: Erica | February 02, 2015 at 10:54 AM
I know in many ways it's good that covers change, but I sure miss the very first one of princess academy and goose girl. They were beautiful and appealing, but not too childish, which made adult readers take them more seriously. I think I would feel a little embarrassed carrying the new ones around (yeah, I totally judge books by their covers).😊
Dangerous looks pretty good, very on trend. I was disappointed with the original cover as it was 'just another' YA book with dark cover and circle motif.
Posted by: Kirsten | February 02, 2015 at 12:06 PM
I like the new cover I guess, but I don't like covers with models. Or films. The reason is, it takes the imagination out of the character. You see the model in your head instead of making up what the character looks like. Plus, isn't Maisie Hispanic?
Posted by: Emily | February 03, 2015 at 02:23 PM
I'm really surprised that you would have that kind of whitewashing for the Dangerous cover. You, being an advocate for #WeNeedDiverseBooks. I'm pretty sure Maisie is a Hispanic character (maybe I'm wrong, maybe she's not and I read some other book called Dangerous). And yet, the cover model is white? It's just incredibly disappointing.
My aunt married a Hispanic man, and I know that my cousin is a HUGE advocate for #WeNeedDiverseBooks. She loved Dangerous. I'm just in shock that my role model, Shannon Hale, would participate in this whitewashing. :(
Posted by: Petunia Krupnik | February 03, 2015 at 04:31 PM
Just checked my copy of Dangerous. Sorry, half-Latina. But my comment still stands. Would it have been so difficult to find a Latina model?
Posted by: Petunia Krupnik | February 03, 2015 at 04:34 PM
i LOOOOVD the dangeros cover wen i saw it, but then i red petuna krumpnicks coment, an i agree. it is whitwashing. dangeros is my favorit book by u, an maisie is haf latina. y woud bloomsberry chose a white model is wut i want to no bc i dont thin u woud do that
Posted by: zoe jonson | February 03, 2015 at 05:13 PM
Hi Shannon! I just wanted to say that the new cover looks cool, and I'm not sure what's with the ridiculous lack of support in these here comments... Also, that girl could totally be Latina, given that Latina ladies, much like anyone else, come in all different shades, and I don't see how anyone can be so "certain" that this model is "white." She looks plenty Latina to me! Also, I am CRAZY EXCITED for the Forgotten Sisters to be published :D
Posted by: Emily Hanson | February 03, 2015 at 07:34 PM
Haters gonna hate Shannon Hale. Don't listen to those haters.
Remember:Haters gonna hate, ain'ters gonna ain't. They hate us cause they ain't us. (They're just peanut butter and jealous)
LOL. But seriously, I love the Dangerous cover, don't listen to the haters.
"The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off" --Taylor Swift
Posted by: Non-Hater | February 03, 2015 at 07:43 PM
Oh, I hope I didn't come across as a hater... :(
Posted by: Emily | February 03, 2015 at 08:20 PM
The cover: I like it!
Just got done gushing about Beekle on my blog. So beautiful.
Posted by: Alysa | February 03, 2015 at 08:58 PM
Can't wait for Forgotten Sisters! Sidenote: Got Princess in Black last week for my superhero crazy almost 4yo boy and he loves it! (He also loves Ever After High and Angelina Ballerina and Elsa and Ninjago and Batman. I love it. :) Thank you for your wonderful books!!
Posted by: Heidi | February 03, 2015 at 10:29 PM
Ooh! I didn't know you had a blog! Congrats to the winners!
Princess Academy is the bomb.com! I can't believe it's been ten years! Can't wait for The Forgotten Sisters! I'm dying from the anticipation!
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And I agree with the others. The new Dangerous cover is sort of racially insensitive... :( Hate to say it, but it's just true (imo).
Posted by: Sylvia | February 04, 2015 at 01:23 PM
Oh, and I just finished A Wonderlandiful World, and it was SO GOOOD! I loved how you made the Narrator "get sick"! That was awesome and how you got Maddie to narrate instead! You are so incredibly talented! You got me into the EAH fandom!
Please, please come back to write more EAH books! I know you probably won't, but I miss your books already!
Posted by: Sylvia | February 04, 2015 at 01:26 PM
@Petunia Krupnik- Don't go tearing down your Shannon Hale shrine so fast. Publishing people decide what the cover looks like, not author people.
Posted by: Eliza | February 05, 2015 at 09:08 PM
Please don't worry, my friends! Digital images look different on different computer monitors. Maisie is definitely half-Latina, half-white. I haven't seen a print copy but the publisher knows her ethnicity and I'm confident the book cover will reflect her accurately.
Posted by: shannon hale | February 06, 2015 at 11:18 AM
I hope so.
Posted by: Petunia Krupnik | February 06, 2015 at 03:47 PM
Shannon you are my favorite author. Of my top 10 books, 9 of them are yours. I can't wait for the Forgotten Sisters.
By the way, Dangerous is really cool. Will you PLEASE do a sequel?
Posted by: Ennagirl | February 08, 2015 at 08:32 PM
I had a really good idea.
You should write a book about Selia. From her perspective, about what happened before The Goose Girl, and during The Goose Girl, and what happened between The Goose Girl and Forest Born. That would be super interesting.
Also, a book about the Queen of Kildenree, Ani's mom, would be really interesting. Why is she so callous? Why isn't SHE corrupted by her people-speaking?
Anyways, I thought these would be super interesting books. The Books of Bayern are my favorite. :)
Posted by: Emily | February 11, 2015 at 05:41 PM
I like both Dangerous covers, they're different but cool
Posted by: Ennagirl | February 14, 2015 at 10:53 PM
I don't mind models on covers. The one on Enna Burning is nice because it looks like there's fire behind he. I love how we first meet Enna in the Goose Girl because we see her by firelight. I visualize her as that girl in all the stories, and it's cool.
If you'd write another Bayern book (I know you get asked this a lot), I'd be thrilled. You could write from Susena-Ofelienna's perspective or something. She'd be about 15 at the end of Forest Born, so she'd be the right age.
I loooove your books. Here are my all-time top stories:
Enna Burning
River Secrets
Palace of Stone
Dangerous
Forest Born
Goose Girl
Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine)
Book of a Thousand Days
Princess Academy
Posted by: Ennagirl | February 14, 2015 at 10:57 PM
I know i posted several times on this page already, i just keep forgetting. I know someone who's half-Asian, half-Caucasian and they look more Asian, and someone who's half Caucasian and half African-American and is fair-skinned. My Hispanic friend isn’t overly dark-skinned, so I think Maisie looks fine.
Posted by: Ennagirl | February 14, 2015 at 11:06 PM
XOXO Shannon Hale
Love your books
Happy belated Valentine's Day to a wonderful writer and lovely person.
Can't wait for Forgotten Sisters
Posted by: Miri | February 14, 2015 at 11:22 PM
@Ennagirl It doesn't matter if she looks "fine". The majority of Hispanic people are darker skinned. When most people think of a Hispanic person they think of someone who has darker skin. Maisie was Hispanic representation, let's not strip that away by making the cover image of someone you usually associate with white people because it's "fine".
I know it's been a while, and you all think that the issue of the Dangerous cover is stupid or that it's blown over, but it's much more important than you think. Representation is especially important to people of color, as they don't get as much of it as white people. That's part of White Privilege, we get to see images of our race everywhere we go. If it was stupid and unimportant, there wouldn't be things like #WeNeedDiverseBooks.
I will be incredibly disappointed in Bloomsbury if the cover looks the same as it does here. Racial representation is a real issue, one that shouldn't be overlooked.
Posted by: Petunia Krupnik | February 17, 2015 at 03:39 PM
@Petunia Krupnik, I definitely agree.
Lately, one of my friends has been talking a lot about racial representation, and her fervor for the issue has really opened my eyes. I've begun noticing that in some of my favorite book series, TV shows, and movies, there is a lack of racial diversity. And I've begun to realize that it *is* a real-life issue that needs resolving desperately.
Posted by: Emily | February 20, 2015 at 07:44 PM
@Emily Exactly I'm glad someone out there agrees with me.
To the people who say that Hispanic women come in all shades: yes, that's true, but Paraguay is about 70% Spanish/Native American, which means dark skin. So, most likely, Maisie would have dark skin. I think that the cover people should go with what is most probably instead of making Maisie the 30%. If they do, that's just an excuse to make her white.
Posted by: Petunia Krupnik | February 21, 2015 at 11:02 PM
@Petunia Krupnik, exactly. Internet high-five! :)
Posted by: Emily | February 23, 2015 at 12:38 AM