Behold! The cover of my new middle grade novel, Fantasy Baseball, due out in March 2011. (Click on the picture to see it a bit larger.) The artwork is done by the fabulous Greg Call, who also did the covers for Peter and the Starcatchers, Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, and many more. Advanced Reader Copy giveaway coming soon!
EDIT: I suppose I ought to say what this book is about, if I can. Here's the elevator pitch I've been working on for it:
Fantasy Baseball is the story of sixth grader Alex Metcalf, who must figure out if he himself is real when he wakes up in a fantasy world filled with famous characters from children's literature like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Toad from The Wind in the Willows, all of whom are playing in a huge baseball tournament.
(The elevator pitch is a work in progress...)
Hahah! Okay, wow. There appears to be a little more "fantasy" in your game than in others which just use famous players... I was at first thinking, "Oh, I like the old-fashioned feel of the bunting!"
ReplyDelete...and then I saw the frog. And the witch...
Heh. Yeah. There was great debate about calling it "Fantasy Baseball." Obviously the title is a play off the game fantasy baseball, wherein you draft real players from the major leagues and accumulate season-long stats. This story has a similar "crazy team" feel, but uses characters from classic children's books instead...it's a different kind of beast entirely. We figured, ultimately, that the cover would tell readers it wasn't their father's fantasy baseball...
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome cover! My kid woulda totally picked that up when he was still a baseball-playing middle-grader. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vicky!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! Love how he used light. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteLove this cover! My son (upcoming 6th grader) would grab this one for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe cover does pull you in. And since so many kid readers still judge a book by its cover...you'll get them hooked. Like the pitch too!
ReplyDeleteAm I a total nerd that I love the fonts? The Fantasy font in particular is fantastic and eye-catching. (As is the cover, of course. :) Congrats! Rebecca
ReplyDeleteThanks all!
ReplyDeleteAnd Rebecca, I'm a font nerd too. I loved what he did with the word Fantasy. It's all hand done. THe only computer generated font on the front cover is my name. I was so happy to see the lettering done like that! It says so much about the flavor and energy I tried to bring to the prose inside.