Some of the best movies and television shows aren’t original stories, they’re adaptations. A great book is taken and brought to life on the big or small screen, expanding its world and thrilling all new audiences. The best of those book-to-screen adaptations often come from the world of young adult (YA) fiction. They’re the stories that follow teens on coming-of-age journeys of self-discovery, often with huge challenges in their paths. They’re stories that spawn whole franchises, like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games and even Percy Jackson & the Olympians.
But while a lot of YA books have gotten adaptations, there are quite a few somewhat slept on YA novels that not only really deserve a read but need to be adapted for television or movies. These five books in particular are complex, intriguing stories that would do great in live action. They tend to mostly fall into sci-fi and fantasy categories and tend to be a little older (several came out in the 2010s) but once you get into them, we think you’ll agree these stories need to be on screen — and in one case, almost was.
5) Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
If you liked Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale and are looking forward to The Testaments but really would like to see a story of oppression and resistance told more as a coming-of-age story, Article 5 by Kristen Simmons is a great one — and as a trilogy, it would make for a great television series.
Article 5 is set in a near future United States where major cities like New York, L.A., and Washington D.C. have been abandoned and the Bill of Rights has been replaced by something called the Moral Statues that enact extremely strict laws — laws that dictate moral behavior covering everything from how girls dress to what media you consume and even single parenthood. When people get arrested for infractions, they never come back. The story follows 17-year-old Ember Miller, the daughter of a single mother. Ember remembers what life was like before and when her mother is arrested for noncompliance, her whole world is tuned upside down. Part love story, part rebellion, Article 5 is a chilling dystopia with big stakes — and one that feels eerily timely.
4) Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Another dystopian story, Delirium is set in 2091, in a world where civilization has concentrated in cities separated by highly restricted travel and ruled by a totalitarian government that deems love to be a disease. To cure this disease, it’s mandatory that all citizens undergo a surgery at the age of 18 that will strip them of the ability to feel. Just months before her own cure procedure, teen Lena Haloway falls in love with Alex, a boy from outside the city who pretends to be cured but has not been. Alex is part of the resistance, and he ends up revealing something to Lena that sends her on a journey to find out the truth about her childhood and family — and fight back against the government as well.
Technically, Delirium has been adapted. The book, the first in a trilogy, got an order for a television pilot from Fox in 2013 with Emma Roberts cast as Lena. However, the series didn’t get picked up, though the pilot was eventually streamed by Hulu for a short time in 2014. It’s actually a pretty decent pilot and just proof the book would make an interesting series. This is one we hope gets a second chance to hit the screen in the future.
3) In the After by Demitria Lunetta
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Young Amy Harris’ life completely changed when violent, deadly, mysterious creatures took over. Her parents disappeared, the government fell apart, as did society as They (they creatures) devoured mankind and destroyed everything. After years of hiding, Amy and a toddler she rescued are rescued and taken to the New Hope safe haven, but what seems like safety has a much darker truth beneath its surface and They may not be quite what Amy or anyone else thinks.
In the After (and its sequel In the End) works really well in the vein of The Last of Us but with some big twists and is just compact enough of a story that it would make for a really great movie. The story never goes exactly where you think it will and you just can’t help for rooting for Amy, especially as she becomes increasingly more badass over the course of the two books.
2) Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
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I’ve heard Beauty Queens by Libba Bray described as a mash up of Lost and Lord of the Flies, but that’s not exactly right — though the story would appeal to fans of both. The satirical novel follows a group of beauty pageant contestants whose plane crashes on a mysterious island. There, they are forced to survive but it isn’t just simple survival. The Corporation that sponsors the pageant has hidden interests on the island and the beauty queens end up entangled into the Corporation’s secret, shady doings.
Beauty Queens is a hilarious and biting satire of reality television, the beauty industry, and consumerism. It’s funny and thought provoking with spot-on critiques of modern culture. It would be a great movie or limited series and it was, at one time in development for an adaptation. It just never happened and we think this is one worth going back and trying again with.
1) The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine
A 15-book YA urban fantasy series about college student Claire Danvers who tries to navigate life and college in the vampire-controlled town of Morganville, Texas (including her vampire housemates) has technically been adapted. Geek and Sundry did a Kickstarter funded web series adaptation of the books as a short form project and you can still stream the series on Prime Video. However, this series really deserves a full, proper adaptation as the web series largely just covers the first book and the series is so much more.
Across all 15 books there are themes of survival and friendship, but it also digs into something that we don’t usually get in vampire fiction: a world where the vampires are in charge and humans are under their control. And, of course, vampires aren’t the only supernatural creatures and threats in Morganville. It’s a unique take on vampire stories — and vampire stories are always great to see in screen.
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