As a bookworm, it saddens me to no end to hear people say they hate reading. Or to find out that most teenagers wouldn't be caught dead with a book. That's why I was ecstatic when the "Hunger Games" trilogy came out and all of a sudden kids–and adults–couldn't get enough of it. Same thing goes for the "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" series. Anything that gets kids reading is a great, great thing.
Now, several publishing houses are realizing that to get teens to read the classics, its covers have to be updated. And they're doing just that with books such a s Romeo & Juliet and Great Expectations, which now boast new, modern and pretty sexy covers. And I'm all for it!
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You know how they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover? Yeah, that's pretty hard to do when you're bombarded by thousands of books and you've no idea what any of them are about and how to go about choosing one. I must say, on many an occasion, I've been guilty of going into a bookstore or library and deciding on a book only because its cover caught my attention.
I know some people would probably be against the idea of using sexy images to sell Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte and Charles Dickens, but we all know a picture is worth a thousand words. And if these images, which are much more in tune with kids today, are going to lure teens into picking up and reading classic literature, I don't see the problem at all.
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I also think the folks at Harper Teen, an imprint of Harper Collins, are super savvy when it comes to marketing classics to teens. They've included an endorsement from Bella and Edward, the two main characters in the "Twilight" series on a new edition of "Wuthering Heights"–and it's worked wonders. A rep says that edition sold more copies than the average new release for young readers. So, you see, maybe you should judge a book by its cover!
What do you think of these sexy covers? Share your thoughts by leaving us a comment below.
