Covers I Love: May B.

My fellow debut 2012 author, Caroline Starr Rose, revealed her cover last week and I'm not kidding when I say I've been staring at it all weekend. I asked her if I could post it here since--if you haven't seen it already--I think you should stare at it too.

I would pick that book up in a heartbeat. The illustration (done by C.S. Neal) is gorgeous, but so is the title font. (Click on the cover to make it bigger). I love that white, striped drop shadow on the title. And the way Caroline's name is a little bit faded to look vintage (it doesn't hurt that her name is probably the most perfect author name ever, too). Big kudos to the art director who put this together.

And now that I've gotten your attention, here's a little synopsis of May B.

Mavis Elizabeth Betterly, or May B. as she is known, is helping out on a neighbor's Kansas prairie homestead, “Just until Christmas,” says her Pa. Twelve-year-old May wants to contribute, but it's hard to be separated from her family by fifteen long, unfamiliar miles.

Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned to the oncoming winter, trapped all alone in a tiny snow-covered sod house without any way to let her family know and no neighbors to turn to. In her solitude, she wavers between relishing her freedom and succumbing to utter despair, while trying to survive in the harshest conditions. Her physical struggle to first withstand and then to escape her prison is matched by tormenting memories of her failures at school. Only a very strong girl will be able to stand up to both and emerge alive and well.

So, right, can't wait to read this.

AND here's the back cover too: