Sass and Serendipity: Take the poll!

Please welcome ShelfConsumed's very first guest blogger, YA author Jennifer Ziegler! 

Jenny is the adorable author of How Not to be Popular, a 2009 Texas Lone Star reading list selection.  Recently a fellow librarian and I ran into her at the TLA conference, and she asked our opinion about the cover of her new book, Sass and Serendipity.  "I love the cover," Jenny remarked, "But I don't know which girl represents Gabby (Sass) and which one is Daphne (Serendipity)."

Since I'm obsessed with the covers of books, I love Jenny's idea of a poll in which you, the readers, get to cast your vote as to which sister is the one in the purple dress with the crossed ankles. 

Let the fun begin!

Jennifer Ziegler writes...
Growing up, I hated having a sister. My sister Amanda spied on me and tattled on me and took my stuff without asking. She even once pulled a knife on me. (It was a round-tipped butter knife and all she did was threaten – but still!)

Amanda and I shared a bedroom from the day our brother Jason was born until the day I left for college. It was tough not having my own space where I could keep my stuff – and my secrets – safe and sound.

Now that we’re both adults, Amanda and I are the best of friends. It’s comforting to have someone who understands you so well … who knows what worries you and what cheers you …who can pick out the perfect gifts and YouTube clips to pass along to you … who can recall the exact face Dad made the day he discovered the petrified piece of something in your brother’s room and then laugh about it with you.

Back when I was sixteen and yelling at Amanda that I wish she’d been taken home from the hospital by a different family – preferably a gypsy family who roamed far away from our house – I never would have guessed that someday I would miss her and want to see her more often. But I do.

My relationship with Amanda was a big source of inspiration for my new novel, SASS & SERENDIPITY, which comes out July 12. The book is about Gabby and Daphne Rivera, two sisters who live in a present-day small Texas town. Gabby is the older one. She is sassy and super-responsible and believes that “true love” is just an excuse for people to go crazy. Daphne, the younger sis, is an optimistic daydreamer who believes that any guy could potentially be “the one.” It was a joy to write and I’m very proud of the results.

One of the last steps in creating a book is the concept for the cover art. As the author, I can have input on the cover, but I don’t design it. Mainly what I do is cross my fingers and hope that the art department at my publishing house will “get” my book and create an image that evokes both the theme and mood of my story. Happily, they did both with this design. In my view, it perfectly captures the classic-meets-modern, silly-meets-romantic, sweet-meets-edgy atmosphere of my novel.

But one detail isn’t clear on the front cover: Whose feet are whose? Do the crossed ankles of the sister in the purple dress belong to Daphne – the one who believes in romance, true love and serendipity? Or do they belong to sassy, dependable, no-nonsense Gabby?

I’ve decided to let readers decide. What do you think? Please cast your vote and help me decide which girl is which.

Help! Who do the crossed feet belong to?

Gabby (SASS) or Daphne (SERENDIPITY)?

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