5 of the Most Beautiful Agate Book Covers

We’re proud of every cover design we’ve printed, but over the years a few have stood out enough to make even the unlikeliest reader crack open the cover and take a peek! Here are some of our favorites:

1. Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

Why we love it: I mean…LOOK at it! In this cover, realism meets cartoon and primary colors play off of one another to paint a vibrant world that imbues every reader with the confidence that comes after a fresh cut. 

Description: Derrick Barnes’s smooth, fresh words and Gordon C. James’s lush, vibrant illustrations capture the confidence, pride, and magic Black and brown boys feel the moment they get a new haircut and admire their own beautiful reflections in the mirror.

IG: @authorderrickdbarnes @gordoncjamesfineart X: @GordonCJamesArt

2. Burn the Place

Why we love it: From its fiery yellows to its nearly tangible textures, this cover takes the reader from forest to kitchen and demands you look closely—so as not to miss a single detail. 

Description: Burn the Place is a galvanizing memoir that chronicles Iliana Regan’s journey from foraging on the family farm to running her Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth. Her story is raw like that first bite of wild onion, alive with startling imagery, and told with uncommon emotional power.

IG: @ilianaregan_and_co 

3. Someone Has Led This Child to Believe

Why we love it: The title hiding among the blooms, bright pinks and whites emerging from a dark background—Who doesn’t love flowers with a melancholy twist? 

Description: In this unflinching, unforgettable memoir, Regina Louise tells the true story of overcoming neglect in the US foster-care system. Drawing on her experience as one of society’s abandoned children, she tells how she emerged from the cruel, unjust system, not only to survive, but to flourish.

IG: @therealreginalouise X: @iamreginalouise

4. 54 Miles

Why we love it: Coming July 23, 2024, this newest Leonard Pitts, Jr. cover is simple, yet beautiful, with a dimmed color palette of blues and golds that mimics the pain and promise the characters themselves contend with inside the pages. 

Description: Set in mid-60s Harlem and Alabama, two families grapple with the promise and brutality of the civil rights era in the American South, reckoning with family secrets, unresolved trauma, and the heavy question of what justice demands.

IG: @leonardpittsjr X: @LeonardPittsJr1

5. Under the Henfluence

Why we love it: You can almost hear the hen clucking from the page! 

Description: An immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and culture reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock.

IG: @tovekdanovich X: @TKDano

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