The Computer Nut
Byars
1984
I know there are lots of Betsy Byars fans out there. If Byars is still a hit with the kids, by all means carry on. My gripe is the cover art. It just looks dated. Featuring technology on the cover can usually age books faster than anything else. Take a look at this one. Or how about this book.
Cover art does matter. There is no point having the greatest book if it has a lousy cover. I know someone will tell me not to judge a book by its cover. My answer is too bad. Good cover can make a difference in getting people to at least take a look. In the 1980s I think the kids would have taken a look and kept reading. In 2019, probably not so much.
Mary
0
I think that the Close Encounters reference would be more of a deterrent to today’s kids than the computer itself.
The Planiverse is a similar idea, if the back cover description is accurate about this book.
Definitely weed! Not just because of the cover art, if a child in 2019 received a mysterious message via IM from someone saying he’s an alien, he or she ought to report it to the police.
I keep this… For a unit in historical fiction!
The art on the cover is really good! I love the lighting. But there’s no escaping the dated looking computer. And if that didn’t scare kids off, that picture on page 6, which looks like a partially filled in dot-to-dot, will.
The artist appears to have signed the side of it.
If it circs, sure, keep it but… I’m sorry. This was written well before the internet as we know it, existed. Kids today won’t be interested – if they even understand it.
Heck, my assistant at work is 23 and she has never known life without Google. This book is nearly 36 years old! Disks, CRT’s… you may as well be talking another language.