Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover Issue 148: Middle Grade (Part 47)

Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover is a regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which I pay tribute to some of the best and brightest the publishing world has to offer in the way of book cover design.

For years now, middle grade books have consistently had the most imaginative, vibrant, eye-catching and beautifully-rendered covers on the market. I’m happy to confirm that this remains true to the present day, as I discovered so many breathtaking 2022 middle grade covers I wanted to highlight in Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover that I’ve decided to divide the collection into three separate posts, today’s being the first. I’m honoured to feature the stunning work of the designers and artists responsible for these covers on Pop! Goes The Reader and have no doubt the stories contained within the pages of these books are every bit as beautiful!

Please Note: As always, I’ve done my best to credit the designers and artists responsible for the stunning covers below, but was unable to find this information for a number of those listed. If you know of an uncredited designer and/or artist responsible for any of these book covers, please let me know and I would be happy to include proper attribution in this post. Their work is lovely and deserves to be credited.

01. The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby
Cover design by David Curtis, Cover art by David Curtis

02. Winnie Zeng Unleashes A Legend by Katie Zhao
Cover design by Sylvia Bi, Cover art by Sher Rill Ng

03. Shine On, Luz Véliz! by Rebecca Balcárcel
Cover art by Caribay Marquina

04. Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega
Cover design by Christopher Stengel, Cover art by Lissy Marlin

05. The Sisters of Luna Island by Stacy Hackney
Cover design by Krista Vossen, Cover art by Jen Bricking

06. Secret Of The Shadow Beasts by Diane Magras
Cover art by Vivienne To

07. The Two Wrong Halves of Ruby Taylor by Amanda Panitch
Cover design by Veronica Mang, Cover art by Olivia Chin Mueller

08. Valentina Salazar Is Not A Monster Hunter by Zoraida Córdova
Cover design by Keirsten Geise, Cover art by Lissy Marlin

09. Nura and The Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan
Cover design by Tracy Shaw, Cover art by Khadijah Khatib

10. The Edge Of In Between by Lorelei Savaryn
Cover design by Samira Iravani, Cover art by Tracy J. Lee

11. Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas
Cover art by Erick Dávila

12. The Midnight Orchestra by Jessica Khoury

13. The Keeper by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Cover art by Mirelle Ortega

14. A Duet For Home by Karina Yan Glaser
Cover design by Celeste Knudsen, Cover art by Felicia Chen

15. Field Guide To The Supernatural Universe by Alyson Noel

16. Each of Us A Universe by Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo
Cover design by Veronica Mang, Cover art by Rich Deas

17. Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee
Cover art by Vivienne To

18. Zachary Ying and The Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Cover design by Karyn Lee, Cover art by Xiao Tong Kong

19. Wilderlore: The Weeping Tide by Amanda Foody
Cover art by Petur Antonsson

20. Freddie vs. The Family Curse by Tracy Badua
Cover design by Celeste Knudsen, Cover art by Alane Grace