Thoughts on the adaptability of the YA/Teen Novels on my shelf

Bit of an odd one this week, but I thought to myself about all of the YA novels I had on my shelf. I reasoned that because YA novels and adaptations are so popular now, I would peruse through my collection and see all of those books which have been, will be or could be adapted into movies and TV shows. And I found…quite a few.

In fact, these are just the ones on my own shelf in my room. I didn’t go looking at either of my sister’s shelves, so unfortunately you will not hear my comments on…

- Twilight series (already reviewed the last movie of that)

- Divergent (I don’t like either the books or the movies)

- Hollow Earth (I got bored with it halfway through, unfortunately. Sorry, John Barrowman. I love you, but not the writing so much(

- Raven’s Gate (Never read that for some reason. Got nothing else to do, so probably should)

- The Dresden Files, Ready Player One and Rivers of London (I consider those more adult books than teen ones)

- Any Morris Gleitzman book (Because I would just say the same thing – ADAPT AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE)

- The Fault in our Stars and Wonder (Not yet read)

- CHERUB (Couldn’t find that for some reason. I read the first one, think it could be a good TV show, but little else to say)

- Operation Red Jericho (Couldn’t find that either. But really fun for young kids. A bit racist, though…)

And so on.

So, let’s talk about the 15 that I got in the photo, starting from top left…

Harry Potter

I mean, Harry Potter has already been made into a multi-billion movie series, so I don’t think I can say that much.

In regard to how the movies adapted the books, I think that all of the ones after and including Prisoner of Azkaban nail that underlying mix of dark themes with smidgens of innocent humour spreading throughout. The first two were a bit less confident – I view them as more standard children’s fare, rather than the more imaginative and propulsive nature of the other films, because they adapted the books verbatim without really changing a lot. It’s like watching a movie that’s directed like a stage play (such as 2014’s awful Into the Woods), where what works on stage doesn’t quite work on film.

But regardless, I still really like the Harry Potter series. I feel it’s gone far enough at this stage, and should maybe go in a new direction that has nothing to do with the main timeline at all, as the first Fantastic Beasts did.

The 5th Wave

Again, The 5th Wave was made into a movie already…a really bad one.

The reason that movie failed was mainly because of its obviously restricted budget, but also due to the fact that at its core, The 5th Wave as a book is less of a PG-13 sci-fi actioner and much more brutal and introspective. There are large portions of the book devoted to deep philosophical monologues about pain and suffering, and most of the other sections are essentially The Walking Dead-levels of violent. That’s what makes it interesting – it’s uncompromising as hell, balancing its more melodramatic, romantic elements with brutal scenes of the fall of humanity.

The 5th Wave could be really excellent as a TV-miniseries. Take all 3 books, make a 10-episode series, give it a high-budget and throw it on HBO. Under that, it could achieve that stark, crumbling visualisation of an abandoned America that author Rick Yancey was going for, as well as maybe have enough restraint to not overdo it with the CGI as the movie did. It just needs enough trust and patience from the producers to produce something like The 5th Wave without reducing it.

Endgame

Endgame was the series that the guy who wrote I Am Number Four made in-between concluding Four’s main story and also writing the excellent movie Queen and Slim. And it does indeed feel like some low-effort project between big ones.

There’s not a single thing I remember about Endgame’s plot details, aside from the fact that the Australian guy dies first (make THAT a horror cliché. We would absolutely love it). As a premise, it’s essentially The Hunger Games on a global scale, where multiple ethnic groups select a member to fight each other until the only remaining fighter’s ethnic group is not exterminated by bored demigods.

If they were to adapt Endgame into a movie, I feel that it should be much more self-aware. Not to an extent of parody or anything, but more comedic and a lot less self-serious. Give it to a director like James Wan or Sam Raimi, and it could be a really entertaining, over-the-top, visually stunning movie that’s entirely tongue-in-cheek. That’s the kind of YA movie we should be seeing now – one that just wants to have fun instead of pandering to a demographic.

Skulduggery Pleasant

My god, I love Skulduggery Pleasant. It’s what I was just describing in the possible Endgame movie – self-aware enough to make itself fun while also offering up a ton of interesting locations and drama to make us care without boring us. And 16 books in, I’m still not regretting it.

There was actually an attempt to make a Skulduggery Pleasant movie back in the day, but Derek Landy, the author of the books, took one look and said “No. This is dreadful” before walking off. And reading one of the rumoured plot details about making it a musical – Skulduggery dancing around to Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson randomly in the other main character’s (Valkyrie) room – I entirely agree that Derek Landy was right.

Skulduggery Pleasant could work as either a movie, a TV show or even a great video game. For the latter option, it could be a Grim Fandango-esque point-and-click game, or maybe a third-person action game with detective moments similar to the Batman: Arkham games. In terms of a movie, it would probably be best to go with the villains from the 4th book, who were a group seeking revenge on the main characters for a variety of reasons, after Valkyrie joins Skulduggery at the start and beats one of the founding members up.

My favourite option is my one for a TV show. It would involve the narrative structure of book 9 (which is a frame of an older Valkyrie following up on a new crime while the main story is in the past), but the main story would be the origins and eventual corruption of Valkyrie, while the frame would be her accepting her guilt and re-joining Skulduggery. That would be a great 1-season of television, and more seasons could follow adapting other villains from the books.

A Monster Calls

Damn, already adapted. And it was an amazing movie. I cried reading the book and I cried watching the movie.

That was because the movie was not afraid to go dark thematically and visually. It was an emotional gut-punch of a story already, directed with amazing aplomb by J.A. Bayona, but it took the style of the book’s illustrations and seamlessly wove it throughout the movie. A Monster Calls is an A+ book and an A+ movie. Nothing more to be said.

Alex Rider

Um…there’s already a movie, TV show and video game? Damn.

Alex Rider is dumb, excusable entertainment for 12-15-year-olds, a slightly cooler Agent Cody Banks. It’s not particularly good in any way, but Anthony Horowitz made the literary equivalent of a soap opera James Bond to read in an afternoon and forget.

The movie was forgettable, and had the acting skill of a soap opera (despite starring Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Stephen Fry, Sophie Okonedo, Andy Serkis etc.), but it was not enjoyable. It made no sense, no money, and no impact. Same with its tie-in video game, which is similarly phoned in.

The TV show came out this year on Amazon. I heard that it was okay, but I lack the Amazon account to actually go and verify this. Having read the first couple of Alex Rider books, I feel that the TV show angle was the right move, allowing the actor playing Alex to really familiarize with the audience as well as provide exposition and development in a way that didn’t come off as faux-cool. It will never be amazing, but it can be dutifully entertaining.

Toby Alone

There’s probably no-one else I know of who has read these delightful books from French author Timothée de Fombelle. Following a civilisation of millimetre-tall people in a grand oak tree, it deals with surprisingly mature themes of mass industrialisation, genocide and violence while balancing an impishly dark sense of humour. I highly recommend it.

As a movie, I think it would definitely work best as an animated film, or even straight up an anime, due to the absolute impracticality of doing such a crazy world in a live-action setting. Give it to the studio that made Ernest et Célestine, who could emulate the signature visual style of the book’s illustrations, or give it to any number of anime directors who would treat the material with the respect it deserves.

Or maybe make a platformer game out of it. Get PlayDead (the ones behind Inside and Limbo) or Moon Studios (Ori and the Blind Forest) to make a beautiful 2D platformer running throughout the world of the Great Tree.

Release

Patrick Ness may be my favourite author working today. He can write violent, furious tales like Chaos Walking or Class, but also beautiful and emotionally fulfilling stories like The Crane Wife, A Monster Calls or Release. The latter in particular focuses on the tribulations of teen romance, steeped in a deep sense of melancholy and fantasy as spirit world and humans collide.

As a movie, it would require a director who could produce something both visually unique and emotionally confident, as well as a mature young cast. A director like J.A. Bayona (who did A Monster Calls), Olivia Wilde or Greta Gerwig could make something really excellent out of this material. Make a movie out of this amazing book already.

Demon Road

Derek Landy again, this time with a trilogy of books focusing on a teenager who discovers her demonic ancestry, going on the run into the unknown wildlands of America. Toning down the more self-aware elements of Skulduggery for the most part, Demon Road is an emotionally thrilling journey and a brilliant love letter to the cheesy horror stories that permeate American culture.

Probably the closest thing I could compare Demon Road to is the recent Lovecraft Country, a similar road story with a more mature commentary-based approach. If taking the budget and ambition of Lovecraft Country along with some of the crew behind it, Demon Road could be a really cool TV show. As a movie, it could work, but I feel that it would be better as a short TV show.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Yes, they made a movie of it. I hated it, if you read my review.

The books had the unique hook of telling the story with black-and-white photographs from the 1940’s in addition to the actual text, giving it that slightly more realistic, horrific feel. The movie abandoned such a style for a much more generic romance and a ton of CGI, but a lower budget, more horror-centric movie that acts as a tribute to those older photographs would be a great idea.

With a heavy emphasis on practical effects (especially for the Hollowgast), film grain effects and a more fiery cast that the last version, something closer to the creepy nature of Ransom Riggs’s books would be entirely possible. Let’s just hope it gets the director and studio it deserves this time.

Artemis Fowl

Again, they made the movie already. Again, I and the majority of the world this time hated it.

Don’t go for live-action Artemis Fowl, guys. Make an animated movie, where the hilarious effect of watching technobabble come out of some Irish kid’s mouth is somewhat lessened. Make everybody ethnically correct as they were in the book this time, give it to a competent studio, don’t try and dumb down the script, and you have a great Artemis Fowl movie. Easy.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner books never particularly interested me. I read the first one, but lost interest after a couple of the second book’s chapters and abandoned it. The movies are pretty much the same for me – relatively uninteresting. There’s some stuff I like in there, but overall it’s not my cup of tea.

Because the movies have already happened, a TV show covering the trilogy would be great. If a lot of the fat in the Glade at the start were trimmed off and some of the plot holes altered while adapting, that would be great. I don’t really have much to say about it, since I’ve forgotten so much about the books, but I think this is enough.

I Am Number Four

Why the heck are there spiders? There are no spiders in the book!

Glancing over at the NINE goddamn books in this series on my shelf, I figure that this bit will be interesting.

I actually don’t mind the 2011 movie they made of the first book, even though it got pretty bad critical reception. It had a slow start and a boring romance, but director D.J. Caruso did a really good job with the visual and action elements, along with a strong performance from Timothy Olyphant (although not so much everyone else). As a movie adaptation of the books, it was pretty strong.

While maybe a TV series could sort of pull off the teen melodrama element of I Am Number 4 (especially the last two, set in literal alien high school), what would interest me the most is a video game. The story of the first seven books, covering John’s journey from fugitive to saviour, have a structure pretty similar to games like Half-Life where a new mechanic is introduced in every level. A studio like Ninja Theory could make an awesome beat ’em up game with all of these cool powers developing over time, a ton of squadmates to assist you, cool enemies to fight…it would actually be a really good video game. I’ve never thought of it in that context before.

The Enemy

For some reason, I only own the 3rd book in this 7-book series. Don’t ask me why.

The Enemy is one of the most brutal book series I’ve ever read. I cried a lot reading it because so many great characters – all of whom are children – are killed by rabid zombies. I still tense thinking about it now. Amazing books, highly recommend.

As it’s essentially The Walking Dead with children, it could make a cool multi-season TV show. As it’s essentially The Last of Us with children, it could also make for a great survival horror game. A movie would…not be a good idea, as there would be no name stars (all the cast would have to pretend to be under 14, unless they adapt the American version where they’re changed to 17, the pussies) and it would need a pretty enormous budget. But a video game and TV show could be great, if they do it right.

Chaos Walking

I am terrified for the Chaos Walking movie that’s coming out next year. Not only has there been enormous re-shoots due to dissatisfaction with the first cut, but there are SIX screenwriters credited, including Patrick Ness, the guy behind Saving Mr Banks, and the guy behind Being John Malkovich. Add to that the fact that they’ve cast Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley as characters who were 12 in the book…this could be Cats levels of bad. I mean it.

A movie would be the most obvious choice to go for Chaos Walking, as a TV show would be too long. But don’t credit it to 6 different writers! Just give it to the most suitable (the Being John Malkovich one), cast people who are actually the age they are supposed to be in the book, hire Wes Anderson or Spike Jonze to direct it and voila! You have a great Chaos Walking movie that could actually make me weep like the books did.

Well, that’s all I have to say for the YA books on my shelf. If you have any other suggestions, leave them in the comments below.