![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.indiebound.com\/233\/434\/9781442434233.jpg\" "\\"Little")
<\/a>Little Dog Lost<\/em><\/strong> by Marion Dane Bauer (Atheneum). Major<\/span> kid appeal. I mean, come on. Who could resist this cover??<\/p>\n<\/a>The Fire Ascending<\/em><\/strong> by Chris D’Lacey (Orchard). This series has consistently provided readers with striking covers, and the latest one is no exception.<\/p>\n<\/a>Unlikely Friendships: The Dog & the Piglet and 4 Other Stories of Animal Friendships<\/em><\/strong> by Jennifer S. Holland (Workman). Do I really need to annotate this one? I didn’t think so. The coos and “ohhhs” from kids when they see this speaks volumes. Baby animals for the win.<\/p>\n<\/a>Steampunk: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein<\/em><\/strong> by Mary Shelley, with illustrations by Zdenko Basic and Manuel Sumberac (Candlewick). While the audience for this one is perhaps narrower than, say, Animal Friendship<\/em>s above, this is such an arresting cover for a classic novel that teens are fascinated and willing to dive right in.<\/p>\n<\/a>Endure<\/em><\/strong> by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury). Okay, let me explain. Even though this cover falls into the photo-of-a-partial-face trend that has been done a thousand times, it (and the other covers in this series) set the bar for how these parti-faces can work well. It’s also the gold; okay, it’s probably mostly the gold. But because gold figures into the world of these stories in a significant way, there’s a *reason* for using it that goes beyond mere aesthetics.<\/p>\n