Today we’re thrilled to reveal the cover for Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith! The cover was illustrated by Britt Newton and designed by Pam Consolazio. The book was edited by Andrea Tompa and will be released on April 11, 2023 by Candlewick Press. Preorder it here, here, here, here, here, here, or here.
Halloween is coming up, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at a new, rural attraction: Harvest House. He’s excited about working on a fun, spooky project. . . until he learns that an actor playing the vengeful spirit of an ‘Indian maiden’—a ghost inspired by a local legend—will be the star of the show.
Local legend aside, unusual things have been happening late at night at the crossroads by Harvest House. Young women—particularly Indigenous women—are being followed by a creepy man; dogs are fretful and on edge; and wild animals are behaving strangely. When the big sister of Hughie’s best pal reports a disturbing encounter, Hughie and his friends decide to investigate. What if rumors of a looming supernatural threat are true? As Moon rises on All Hallow’s Eve, will they be able to protect themselves and their community by solving the mystery of the haunting at the crossroads?
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A word from the cover artist:
It was an amazing opportunity to bring this cover and characters to life—a modern Native YA mystery is something I would’ve loved as a teenager and being able to contribute to this project has been a dream! – Britt Newton
A word from the author:
Mvto to Britt for her spooky-phenomenal illustration for Harvest House. The colors are eerie and evocative. The shadowy characters in the windows draw the eye. But I’m especially taken with Britt’s placement of Hughie—I love Hughie!—in juxtaposition with the ghost. That gives the cover an otherworldly feel while still grounding it in contemporary daily life. All of that said, it’s thrilling that YA readers will have a chance to appreciate (and be beckoned by) her artwork. – Cynthia Leitich Smith
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Britt Newton is a Colorado-based artist and citizen of Muscogee Nation. She is also the illustrator of Rez, The Dog, written by Laura Bullock. You can find her online at: https://holoske.com/. You can also follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Credit: Christopher T. Assaf/ctassaf.comCynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Hearts Unbroken, the Tantalize series, and the Feral trilogy. She is a winner of the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature; the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books; and the Katherine Paterson Inaugural Endowed Chair on the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Austin, Texas. You can find her online at: https://cynthialeitichsmith.
