Saturday, June 16, 2012

Nancy Drew Diaries Cover Previews


Nancy Drew Diaries - Cover Previews

Here are 2 sample images for the Nancy Drew Diaries series that's coming out next year. Keep in mind, this art is not final and could be subject to change. The above cover is for book 1 in the series, Curse of the Arctic Star. Below is the cover for Stranger on a Train.

We have now gone back to illustrated covers of a scene featuring Nancy Drew instead of the clip art covers or the posed covers with photos of models. This is the type of cover that fans prefer, so I'm very glad to see they went with an illustrator for this series. Nancy appears to be just blond again like she was in the originals in the classic series in the 1930s-1950s.


Here are synopses of these books:

Arctic Star--Nancy, Bess, and George are cruising dangerous waters on a tour of Alaska. Becca Wright, an old friend of Nancy's, is the Assistant Cruise Director of the Arctic Star, a posh new ship. But Becca needs Nancy's help when strange things keep happening aboard the opulent ocean liner: the swimming pool is turned into a floating grave; a famous passenger is threatened; and even the seemingly innocent mini-golf course becomes a perilous playground. With the majestic and mysterious Alaskan scenery as a backdrop, Nancy and company have to find out who's trying to sabotage the maiden voyage and why.

Stranger on a Train--Nancy’s Alaskan adventure continues as she and her friends disembark the mystery-plagued Arctic Star cruise ship and explore the grand sites of the 49th state: Skagway; the Yukon territory and Denali National Park. It's spectacular scenery, but things start to go wrong almost immediately, leading Nancy to believe that whoever is behind the unsolved mayhem aboard the ship has followed them on to dry land. The girl detectives had better watch their steps--they're on uncharted and unknown territory!

What do you think of the art?

Jenn:)

7 comments:

Anna Eleonor said...

Fun to see a preview! But Nancy looks very young, even for an 18 year old!

Anonymous said...

Not bad! I think they were trying to make her look more like the Nancy in the Clue Crew series (obviously she is still older, but by appearance). But I agree with what Anna says, she looks young...maybe they're changing Nancy's age to 16 again?

~ Theresa

Jewel Divas Style said...

I do realise they are for kids and that's probably what they think the cover is geared towards, but she doesn't look old enough. Age her to look appropriate and it may look better.

Anonymous said...

They're nice. I do agree she could look a bit older, but you did say they are subject to change :)

I really like how it's not a real person posing as Nancy. The covers were completely uninteresting because of that; the Eco, Identity, and Sabotage trilogies covers just blended together.

I'm not sure how I feel about the continuation. Do we know if these are the only two? If it's going to be a trilogy, they need to do it better than in the Girl Detective series.

I'm lookin forward to seeing what the Nancy Drew Diaries are like! :)

Rebecca said...

My first reaction was that she doesn't look old enough to have a friend who is Assistant Cruise Director! To be fair, though, I teach high school and there are many seniors who look much younger than 18, as well as many who look older. I think the age impression is due a lot more to the casual style, and if we saw that same face with a dress and heels it wouldn't look as out of place.

I'm a little sad that her hair is back to blonde, as my Nancy (and Clue Crew Nancy) has red hair. Oh, well.

Overall, I really do like the look of the covers, including the font. They seem more classic in style. And if there will be internal illustrations I am doubly sold!

The plots sound intriguing as well. I like that they have some sense of continuity without falling back into the trilogy trap.

Matt said...

I'm a little disappointed that they didn't try something a bit grander. But then again, bringing Nancy Drew into the YA book world would take some serious effort. I agree with everyone above Nan looks 13-16, and BLONDE??? Did someone pick up the wrong paint? Maybe they're testing her to see which looks best... The inclusion of a continuity sounds promising, I just hope they don't lower the reading level. BTW, is the 'old friend' in book 2 a classic Nancy character I'm not familiar with? or an 'old friend' in a 'Murder she Wrote' kind of way?

Anonymous said...

When Nancy Drew is aimed at teenagers again, I'll be first in line to get a book. But not until then.