The intention here was to create a book jacket that would represent the subject matter of the book, and for it to appeal to a teen audience with multicultural interest.

I used a photo of vast African landscape where the story takes place, and illustrated a Maasai teen boy looking out onto the landscape, almost contemplative. I felt had I used a girl for the illustration the book would then be considered a ‘girl book’ and boys would likely overlook it, but if I used a boy instead it was more likely have visual appeal to both girls and boys. I so hope some day our culture will evolve to be more equal in that way, and that boys won’t find their masculinity at risk by such things.