Latinx Representation on Young Adult Book Covers

Introduction

Some children will grow up consistently seeing themselves in the books they read—from Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat to Mary Pope Osborne’s The Magic Treehouse. But for many other children, the first literature they’re introduced to, and many of the subsequent novels they read, will not feature protagonists who share the same identity as them. 
 
A page of The Cat in The Hat by Dr. Seuss


Of course, children’s literature featuring diverse protagonists does exist, although small in number, but even then, they don’t reach many marginalized children due to systemic injustices in the publishing industry, library system, and public schools. 

Part of this, although small, can be directly linked to the underlying messages and coding of the packaging of a physical novel advertised to children and teens. 

Marketing plays an important role in both what librarians and teachers introduce to children, as well as what children themselves choose to read. A book’s cover, spine, and presentation of its contents through its visual and physical elements can greatly influence how a book reaches its readers and informs them of what the book’s contents are. 

I will examine the way book covers communicate with readers through their underlying coding and presentation of racial and ethnic elements of the story.


To narrow the scope of this study, three examples of #OwnVoices—stories in which the protagonist shares some of the author’s identity—Latinx young adult novel covers are closely examined. 

This page has paths: