The Friday Face-Off was created by Books by Proxy, where each week bloggers can showcase books with covers centered around a weekly theme. You can visit Lynn’s Books for a list of upcoming themes. Join in the fun each Friday by finding a book whose cover is based on the theme!
This week’s theme: “The child is in love with a human. And not just any human. A prince!” – A cover featuring a mermaid/man.
I had several books I wanted to use this week, but they didn’t have multiple covers, so I had to search back in my memory to find a mermaid related story that I could showcase. Luckily I remembered The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman, which is a wonderful historical novel that takes place in New York in the early part of the twentieth century. The mermaid in question is a young girl named Coralie who works in her father’s freak show as a “mermaid,” donning a fake mermaid tale and swimming for hours in a tank. I found plenty of covers with mermaids on them, take a look:
U.S. hardcover edition 2014 | U.S. paperback 2014
U.S Large print edition 2014 | Hungarian edition 2015
Czech edition 2014 | Bulgarian edition 2015
Dutch edition 2015 | UK edition 2014
I actually like all of these covers for one reason or another. The U.S. paperback, Dutch and UK editions are all similar and beautiful in their own way, but they don’t show the mermaid aspect of the story. My eye keeps wandering back to the U.S. hardcover edition, which is the one I read and loved. It’s simple but effective, and gives the reader a sense of the eeriness of the story.
Ah, such beautiful covers!
Except the hungarian one. Like, seriously… what’s up with that webbed paw? 😀 Hahaha.
I think my fave would be the very last one, the UK edition 🙂
Ha ha, that Hungarian cover is pretty disturbing!
Wow. You’re right. All of these are good. I’ll go with your choice. Simple yet intriguing. The Czech edition is a close second. I like the porthole.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Riddle me this …. Crimes Past by Lauren Carr ~ Review and Giveaway
I like that one too. I do like the circus covers but I wanted to choose a mermaid cover for my favorite:-)
My favorite is the US paperback! There’s just something about the circus/carnival that gives it that incredible atmosphere 😀
I think all of the circus themed covers are really good for this book!
I’d have to agree. The U.S. hardcover edition is definitely an eerie cover.
The Hungarian cover kind of freaks me out but the rest of them are gorgeous. Your pick is my favorite though. I like the simplicity and the atmospheric quality.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday – HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE DARK by Kathleen Glasgow
I know the circus-y ones don’t have mermaids, but I like their circus-y-ness lol. I kinda like the webbed hand one though since it’s so diff from the typical mer cover!
Ooh. I like the UK 2014 edition just because it has the distance shot of the circus, with the starlit sky. I like the Dutch one though too, the more I look at it.
The US hardcover though might be my second fave. And the Czech one sorta works for me? With the porthole thing… maybe 🙂
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Some of these are sooo freaky. I’d go with the UK edition 2014 even if it has no mermaids on it. I’d keep them mermaids as a surprise and fully up to the imagination of the readers. 😛
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…Harley Quinn: Mad Love by Paul Dini
I like the UK 2014 Edition best but I haven’t read it so I can’t judge by how well it fits the story 😀 good choice!!
Brittany recently posted…Mini Reviews (Part 5) Children’s Books
I never heard of this one but wow, I love a lot of these covers. I think I like your pick here too, it really does feel like one of those oddity shops. 🙂