Many people don’t know that an author at a “traditional” publishing house has little to no say over the cover art for their book. And by little I mean (for a debut author) that is generally NONE. My agent at the time, Lucy, had ensured Scholastic would consult with me on the cover, especially due to my concerns regarding non-Indigenous artists re-creating Indigenous art like Tlingit formline. So while I was obviously focused on, you know, writing the book, and then revising and editing, I still had a bit of anxiety about what the cover might look like.
So how ECSTATIC was I when the good people at Scholastic let me know who they had found to create the art – Tlingit artist Kelsey Mata Foote! I literally clapped!
Kelsey was first known to me as the artist for the beautiful book “Celebration!” written by Lily Hope, but she does so much beautiful, cute, and creative work for all sorts of projects. And her style is a PERFECT match for the intended readers of this middle-grade novel. While I hope ALL ages will read it, of course, I just know Kelsey’s style will catch the eye of the 8-12 year-old target audience. I mean, can you imagine this dynamic art jumping out at the Scholastic book fair? Because I’m sure excited to see exactly that!
But most importantly, this work of Tlingit fiction full of Tlingit history and clans and places is brought to visual life by someone who understands the importance of all this Tlingit-ness – knows what the endless rain in Southeast smells like, has lived the complexity of Indigenous identity our main character wrestles with, has worn regalia characters create in the story, can hear the song they sing on the boat from memory. How incredibly lucky I am that Kelsey is the cover artist for my debut novel, and how incredibly lucky the readers will be to have her work in their hands!
But enough from me – here are Kelsey’s thoughts below on the process of creating the cover art for “Park Survival: Lost in Alaska.”
Process-wise, the artwork began as a series of black-and-white napkin sketches to nail down the composition. I think there were five or six of them altogether!
We considered a few images to convey the themes throughout Vera’s wonderful story, things that reflect Emmett’s journey to his mother’s hometown: regalia, formline elements, wildlife, the landscapes around Xunaa (Hoonah), and various angles of Xunaa Shuká Hít.
After working with Maeve Norton and a few others from Scholastic, we landed on a more dynamic running pose of Emmett and his pup, sprinting across the semi-frozen, semi-muddy landscape we know all too well in Southeast.
I redrew the cover digitally in color with a Wacom tablet as several layers, then overlaid hand-painted watercolor pages on top to add that texture. (I opened the file this morning and can confirm that it’s 20+ layers. They’re organized from background to foreground as separate, movable pieces, including Emmett, the mountains, the bushes, the water, etc., each on its own layer.) In my experience with book covers, I like to keep components “shiftable” to allow space for text and print dimensions.
I’m also delighted to share that Xunaa Shuká Hít will be featured on the back cover on its own, along with its original dock posts! A detail I might’ve missed had it not been for Vera’s reference photos and the stories she shared with me.
Aatlein gunalchéesh to you, Vera, for allowing me to create this cover for you and your story. You are incredible!
