I had a poster made with the cover of "Relocated" and the text of a really great review
(third one on Amazon for the book:
which starts:
"I was hesitant about starting Relocated after seeing the cover. It just didn't really appeal to me. But I jumped in and wow am I ever glad I did.
I loved this book."
So, okay, she didn't like the cover.It happens.
I took my nifty poster out of the mailer and unrolled it.
Someone Nameless, hanging over my shoulder, read it and remarked, "No wonder. The cover is creepy. The Black kid is creepy. Didn't you have anything to say about the cover?"
Um, yes, I had cover artist remove a shadow that hinted at facial hair.
SN even questioned why I made main character Black. (Because I didn't want him to be white).
Yes, I know that SN is bigoted and no, it's not a surprise.
I can't quite disentangle all of my reactions to this very creepy, disturbing reaction on the part of SN. I'm tempted to blog about it. Is that out of line? Do I ask reviewer why they didn't like the cover?
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