YA book covers vs. YA BLACK book covers

The other day a friend showed me this article on a racial dispute over the cover of a YA novel. The novel, Liar by Justine Larbalestier, is a story about a black girl-but dispite that, the cover is of a white girl. Justine says she argued with editors and sale reps who say that black covers don't sell well and more then a few accountants won't take books with black covers. The idea that this may be very well a fact is proof of racism in YA books today. Have a look at the article (posted by Cory Doctorow) and please comment on what you think. Here is a link is you are having trouble getting to the website.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/23/race-and-book-covers.html

Character Descriptions

OK, so last night I was reading a book, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, and if you remember back in eariler posts I asked what race do assume the character is? Some of said that may be left open for the reader to deciede and that there may be no deffiant race for a single or group of characters. Well in the book I read last night, in every other character the narrarter introduced, they wouldnt give a description of the race except when "a black girl with long braids emerged," pg. 48. In every other context, it is usually just the description of what the character ("I saw the source: a short kid wearing a peacoat and some serious orthodontia, sitting in the backseat with a book open in his lap" pg. 103), except for the one on page 48. Why is it that in the book world we live in we need to be told if a character is of a different race but not often need to be told that the character is white? I know this book isnt the only one.