I need to start reading blurbs…

Thank you, Tanya. And absolutely!
It’s also more difficult to tackle when it’s private enterprise and people in authority can come up with ‘logical’ excuses (like “shelving convenience” or “this added another layer to a character who was a self-confessed liar”).
And who knows? Maybe they’re even fooling themselves.
But I’d be hard-pressed to believe that seasoned publishing personell would make this move without thinking they might offend quite a few people.
Marketing ploy or not, this baby was botched.

What are minority children to think…What are white children to think? I’ll tell you. That only whites are on book covers. That it’s okay…

And to me, despite all the righteous anger and finger-pointing, this was the worst of it. This makes me madder than hell. You’re selling this book to impressionable readers who’re barely one step beyond CHILDHOOD. How the hell DARE you?! They’re not stupid. They can do the math.
I’m glad that, at least, you didn’t tinker with the title. It seems appropriate.

Dodgeball. It’s not just for kids anymore.
It was probably a lose-lose situation, and this may have been deemed the slickest way out. And the book will probably sell bigtime. I can’t say I have much respect for how they handled it, however.

Paraphrased “We wanted to implant in our readers mind maybe she’s lying about her race too.”

Okay, now there’s not only an elephant in the room, but a lame elephant.
Especially since the author had already come out and said her character was NOT lying about her race.

For anyone interested in reading, the article may be found HERE.

Mel, you can let loose here anytime you want.

It’s shocking for the simple fact I don’t see color when I read. All the characters, any color, are whittled down to fuzzy humans with physical tics.

Once the initial character descriptions are out of the way, I’m pretty much the same (I think). And if your writing carries me along & your characters work for me, I don’t give it a second thought. And according to the readers’ comments I’ve seen, this book would fit the bill. It would seem that the cover may have done more harm than good.

As for the second scenario, I go with write what characters come to you.

I would agree with that. But as long as there are publishers and booksellers in authority who think there IS a difference (and as long as they make money it’s acceptable to continue such policies)–the policies won’t be resolved.

I’m just disappointed right now. At least with the publisher’s response. It’s basically ignoring i.e. sidestepping that they stepped in dog poo. Paraphrased “We wanted to implant in our readers mind maybe she’s lying about her race too.” But that’s not the case from my understanding after reading the author’s response and from people who read the book.

Yes, some people read race into everything. I’m not one of them and I’m outraged. I sure I’m not the only one. At this point I just don’t have any words.