Meet Sticky. He’s the guy third from the right and one of the main characters in the The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart.
Now here’s a close up of Sticky from the illustration that appears on the dust jacket of the latest book in the series.
Ironically enough, the title of the latest book in the series is The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma, which given that Sticky’s color is locked away between the boards sheds a whole new light on the term ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’.
Here’s the product description as it appears on Amazon:
Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout [emphasis mine] engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before.
Filled with page-turning action and mind-bending brain teasers, this wildly inventive journey is sure to delight.
Forget about an “unexplained blackout”, what’s the deal with the unexplained whiteout?
This is mind-bending for sure.
Apparently Sticky is not alone. A post at 100 Scope Notes points out a similar whitewashing on the cover of the Jacyln Dolamore’s new YA book Magic Under Glass.
The text gives us this:
“I knew how the men of Lorinar thought, what they wanted. To him, I was dark and foreign and crude.”
The cover gives us this:
Perhaps a little more black magic is in order.
Jaclyn Dolamore’s response to the cover controversy.
Update: Publisher’s Weekly reports that Bloomsbury will rejacket Magic Under Glass
Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the lead