Same book- different title

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

I was thinking after seeing that A Northern Light is also known as a Gathering Light (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). I also know that I Am the Messenger is just The Messenger in Austraila. Anyone else know of other books that have different titles? I'd also be interested if you know why they have different titles.

[Renee]

At first I thouhgt this discussion was about this months book. The book the Golden Compass was also named the Northern Lights. I think the name was changed here in the states. I am not sure if it was changed in England

[Luann]

I just read a book that apparently has three titles, based on which country it is in and which age group they are targeting. The book I read in the US is called Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, but in the UK and Australia it is called either The Two Pearls of Wisdom (adult version) or Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye (YA version - I guess for both the UK and Australia). Very confusing!

[Bill]

Indeed Luann. I very nearly ordered the US version thinking it was book two. The 'Reborn' in the title made me think that. Odd choice if you ask me. Noticed another US title change today which was Francis Hardinge's The Lost Conspiracy. Awful title IMO. Sounds like a nf title for the tv show. Anyway, a little investigation shows it to be Gullstruck Island pubbed UK in Jan. Her last book was changed from the UK title of Verdigris Deep to Well Witched for the US.

[Josie]

Dragon Slippers is Dragonskin slippers here (Australia), and Dragon's Keep is Talon.
Also Inkspell in the original German actually translates as Inkblood, which makes something important in the story make more sense - I wish they hadn't changed it!

[Luann]

Sometimes they change the name (and almost always the cover illustration) when they publish the paperback version. The one example I'm thinking of is called Gideon the Cutpurse - which I've been planning to read for quite some time. One day I noticed that one of my friends read a book by that same author and in that same series called The Time Travelers - which I could see was on my TBR, but I had never heard of. Turns out they are the same book, just they changed the title when they published it in paperback. They completely changed my perception of the book - which I'm sure is what they were aiming for, but it sort of made me mad and I haven't read it yet. I asked my friend about it and you can read our conversation here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

[Kandice]

This isn't YA, but there was a book I was anxiously awaiting the release of called Angelpuss. Well, that's what it was called in Australia and New Zealand. In America it's just called Angel, so I was confused. It's irritating.

[Becky]

Markus Zusak has a trilogy of books published in Australia, which are YA books.
The first one is Underdog (which Wikipedia lists as "The Underdog"). Then there is Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and the third is When Dogs Cry, published in the US as Getting The Girl.

That is such a large change, and as this seems to be a book directed at boys, I can't imagine that the change has done a lot for sales. Although, I dunno, maybe boys don't want to buy a book with the word "cry" on the cover either. *shrug* This is one of those changes that seems to alter the whole feel of the book though.

[Misty]

I just started a book for the challenge called Belle, and I tried to find it on GR to add as currently reading, but all I could find was one called Belle and the Beau. I thought this was a sequel. Nope, same book. Same country of origin. Same decade it was published and republished. Just to confuse me, I think.

[Luann]

Kandice wrote: "I was confused. It's irritating."

Misty wrote: "Just to confuse me, I think."

I agree! Especially when they seem to make changes arbitrarily. It's one thing to alter the title slightly for an edition of a book in another language. It's an entirely different thing to change the title of the book for no apparent reason.