“When we were discussing the concept for this jacket, we wanted to convey a sense of the Romeo and Juliet play and themes that are explored throughout the story, while showcasing Mattie and Gemma and their relationship. Rather than hiring a “traditional” illustrator, our art director, Karin Paprocki, reached out to a cut-paper artist, Yan Gabriella. Once we gave her the concept, she sent along an initial layout of how the cut paper would set, along with paper samples so we could see what colors she was thinking. Once she got the green light on concept and palette, she literally cut hundreds of pieces of paper to form the gorgeous end result that you see here. Karin and I are reminded of stained glass when we looked at the final product, and we adore it!””
When I first got the synopsis for this book, I was wowed!
As a pre-teen who has gone through moments of confusing feels for my female and male friends, I wish I had some help sorting out these feelings. For any young person who has experience a crushed on either girl or boy or both, Star-Crossed is invaluable to young readers struggling to sort our these feelings.
Thank you Karin and Alyson for this great opportunity to work on this project. It was a treat to work with all of you. And thank you Barbara for writing this great story.