Covers: New and Improved?

I don't mind publishers making new book covers for older books. In fact, if the books cover is screaming 80's then I seriously think a makeover is needed, however Publishers seem to be going down a route that I personally find asthetically stupid.

Take T.A. Barron's series The Lost Years of Merlin. The new covers are much more in your face, but take a closer look at the boy (Merlin) in the background. Is that stubble I see? On a young twenties looking man? Isn't Merlin supposed to be a pre-teen in this first book?



Tamora Pierce's Alanna series has also undergone a makeover. The first book follows Alanna (a girl pretending to be a boy) through ages 11-13. Yet, on the new cover Alanna looks to be in her late teens and she is very obviously a girl. I think if Alanna was that pretty she would never have pulled off her deception.



Perhaps the logic is that teen readers will grab a book in which the character on the cover is older, but then what about books like Hunger Games or the Book Thief that don't have the character on them at all? I know photography on YA covers is becoming the thing, to the point that I sometimes mistake one book for another because they are all beginning to look the same...some burnett or blond white girl looking fiercely into the camera conveying the need for you to buy this book because see....the character is intense.

Have you noticed any books that have had the covers re-done? Let me know. I'll add it.