Three Really Great YA Movie Adaptations
Whenever a movie adaptation of a book I like is announced, I go through a few different emotions. First comes elation that this awesome book is going to come to life! Then arrives apprehension. What if it isn’t a faithful adaptation? Who are they going to cast as my favorite character? I hope that the movie does the book justice. Finally, there is acceptance. Well, even if it isn’t good, more people will find out about the book and will read it.
When it comes to adapting young adult novels, it gets even trickier. In the past, studios have struggled with turning beloved teen books into films that teens (and others!) will actually want to watch. Although I haven’t seen The Giver and Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, I have been warned by enough students that I should just leave my exposure to the written word only. I left the movie theater actually embarrassed that I went to see Twilight on opening day. I think that sometimes the screenwriters and producers don’t fully understand that young adult readers and movie watchers want the same quality work that everyone else does.
Luckily, the past few years have produced some really lovely adaptations of popular young adult novels. It is probably no coincidence that the quality of YA and middle grade novels has improved tremendously as well. Growing up, I only had a few “go to” authors that I knew would publish work that I connected with and actually wanted to read. Now, writers are creating stories that represent many different perspectives and are telling important stories that teens care about. Here are three really great YA adaptations that you should watch (and read!)
1. Love, Simon
I could not get enough of this book (published as Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli) when I read it a few years ago. It was the frothy fun romance that I read A LOT of growing up in the mid 2000s but this time, featured a gay protagonist. Being able to read an LGBT+ book that felt both familiar and revolutionary was a treat. It sounds silly to say that, but even a decade ago, it was difficult to find LGBT+ books that didn’t end in tragedy or distress. This book and subsequent film adaptation is about a teen named Simon who is not out to his friends, but is invested in an online relationship with a boy from school. The problem is that they don’t know who the other is--they only talk through their screen names. The conflicts and story that comes from this is heartwarming and just flat out real. I loved this movie so much. It made Simon even more likable than in the book, and even though it is hard to adapt a book without leaving some things out, Love, Simon did so with ease. I smiled and cried throughout this movie and I can’t wait to watch it again. Read it! Watch it! Love it!
2. The Hate U Give
This is another book that I read when it was released a while back. I have a really distinct memory of sitting in a Princeton parking garage for 45 minutes reading this book because I didn’t want to stop! The main character is Starr, a girl living with her family in a neighborhood called Garden Heights. Starr is in the car with her friend Khalil who is shot and killed by a police officer, despite being unarmed. Starr has to decide whether she wants to speak out on the truth about what happened to her friend. This is a truly powerful novel, and one that everyone should read. Angie Thomas is such a fantastic author, and I’m so excited for her third book to come out soon! I just watched the 2018 adaptation about a week and a half ago, and it was truly fabulous. Amandla Stenberg captures Starr’s growing confidence and emotions in such a subtle way. This is something that I don’t think YA adaptations could have done even a few years ago. The movie is a captivating hard look at what is happening every day in our country. My eyes didn’t leave the screen for the entire movie and the changes from the book at the end were completely effective for the transition from book to screen. I can’t recommend it enough.
3. Ready Player One
Okay, I know that this isn’t technically considered a YA book, but it really should be. I have had lots of students read this book, and with a teen protagonist playing a virtual reality video game in a dystopian not-so-distant future, I think it is an honorary young adult novel. This one is a doozy to try to explain in a few sentences. Basically, life sucks for everyone in 2045, and most people choose to escape by living primarily in the virtual reality world of the OASIS. When the creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a scavenger hunt of sorts. The winner of that scavenger hunt will become the new owner of the OASIS. Our main character Wade Watts becomes an overnight sensation in this game, only to find out that the game isn’t so fun. This was such a treat to read. It is like a 1980s video game Willy Wonka. I had real doubts about a film adaptation, even with a director as great as Steven Spielberg. Well, I was so pleasantly surprised when I went to see the movie in theaters! It is EXTREMELY different from the book, which I thought I would dislike, but I think it was a really great way to take a niche story (with a ton of 80s video game trivia) and transform it into something with much broader appeal. That’s not always a bad thing, in my opinion. I had so much fun watching this movie, and noticing the aspects of the story that the writers kept the same as the book. I would love to know what you think if you have read the book and saw the movie.
I have a few more YA adaptations that I want to talk about (The Fault in our Stars! The Hunger Games! The Perks of Being a Wallflower!) but I wanted to start off the conversation with three that I absolutely adore. Let me know what you think!