9 Great Young Adult Book-To-Movie Adaptations
Photo credit: bookshelf by David Orban (under this license), text by Emma K.
Here are nine great book-to-movie adaptations to check out! The books will almost always be better than the movies to me, but I know some people disagree. Either way, here are some great YA books and movies to watch, read, compare, and contrast. I'll also provide whether I prefer the book or the movie for every story.
Note: some of the really popular book-to-movie adaptations are not included/have been included as honorable mentions because I either did not see the movies, or did not read the books.
THE HUNGER GAMES
Photo credit: Emma K.
Though both the book and the movie have been considered too gruesome for the age group, The Hunger Games remains a classic book-to-movie adaptation. The protagonist of the book, Katniss Everdeen, is played by Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, and is joined by love interests Peeta and Gale, played by Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, respectively. With excellent acting on all counts, The Hunger Games tells the story of sixteen-year-old Katniss as she volunteers to take her sister's place in an annual brutal fight to the death, sponsored by the Capitol of the country as a reminder of the bloody rebellion that occurred seventy-four years prior. The movie is a near-exact representation of the book, from the characters to the plot points, but I still favor the book to the movie. For one, it's great to be able to see what the characters are thinking, and for two, it's always entertaining to imagine what things and people look like. I do also appreciate a lot of the work that went into making the Hunger Games movies; the actors had to undergo intense physical training, and in one case, even had to run from real fire chasing after her. I'll always enjoy the books more, though.
Book or movie? BOOK
DIVERGENT
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A popular dystopia, Divergent tells the story of Beatrice "Tris" Prior (played by Shailene Woodley) as she discovers her Divergent personality-- one that lives in more than one of the five factions of ideals: Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (knowledge), Amity (peace), Candor (honesty), and Dauntless (bravery). Fitting in Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless, Tris is faced with the harrowing lifestyle that comes with living as a Divergent in her chosen faction, Dauntless. When threatened with death at many points in the first book, Tris uses traits from her other aptitudes to save herself and others, much to her detriment. The movie, though the cinematography was nice, failed to really explain any of what was going on, and failed to capture the thoughts and feelings of the characters properly. I felt that the acting in the movie was poor, and that many important aspects of the books were left unexplained or left out entirely. The book, though, is original in so many ways and comfortably classic in others, and is really great for a debut novel. And for bonus points, the author, Veronica Roth, grew up in Barrington, a northwest suburb about an hour away from Chicago.
Book or movie? BOOK
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
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As you'll see from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, I really like movies that have been directed or written by the author of the books. Maybe that's a note that screenwriters aren't supposed to be novelists, but I guess correlation is not causation. As I'm sure you inferred, I liked the movie version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower much better than I liked the book. I also saw the movie before I read the book, but I honestly doubt I would have even watched the movie if I'd read the book first. Yep, warning: if you didn't like Perks for various reasons, try the movie. You might like it better. That said, the movie is pretty great. Starring Logan Lerman as Charlie, Emma Watson as Sam, and Ezra Miller as Patrick, Perks details the crazy and dramatic life of one high school freshman and two high school seniors in classic Catcher in the Rye fashion. Featuring drugs, alcohol, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Perks is great for if you're not too strict about what kind of substances a 15-year-old should be indulging in. And honestly, so many of the things in the book are better explained and shown in the movie, so give it a try.
Book or movie? MOVIE
THE PRINCESS BRIDE
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Though not strictly considered a young adult book, The Princess Bride is a classic book, and an extremely popular movie. Perhaps you've heard the phrase, "As you wish," or even the Spaniard Inigo Montoya's infamous saying, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." These are both quotes from The Princess Bride, and though the book was published in 1973 and the movie was made in 1987, it remains popular to this day. Featuring Robin Wright as Buttercup, Cary Elwes as Westley, Mindy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, and André the Giant as Fezzik, the movie version of The Princess Bride is more popular than the book, and in my opinion, better than the book, for various reasons. For one thing, the movie cuts out a lot of things from the book, but where in other situations that might be a bad thing, it works wonders for The Princess Bride. It only includes the more major plot points, and the viewer isn't left trudging through fifteen minutes of descriptions of the minutiae of torture devices. I also thought that the acting was wonderful (especially Inigo Montoya!), and though the movie came out 30 years ago, it's still enjoyable--and funny--today.
Book or movie? MOVIE
THE MAZE RUNNER
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In this Lord of the Flies-esque novel, teenagers with nearly-full memory loss live in a glade--conveniently titled the Glade--and are looking for a way to escape the labyrinth that surrounds the little city the teenagers have built for themselves. The labyrinth houses monsters called Grievers, terrible things whose sting can kill them or, if they take a special serum, can cause them to go through a painful transformation that causes them to regain some of their memories from before they arrived in the Glade. When protagonist Thomas arrives (played by Teen Choice Award-winning actor Dylan O'Brian), he is trained to be a Runner-- someone who runs through the labyrinth, mapping out where the walls have moved from day to day and hoping to get back to the Glade before the walls close for fear of the Grievers. Though the movie did a great job at portraying many aspects and explaining some of the concepts of the book (and it was creepy-cool to see a Griever on screen), I still prefer the book to the movie, and I think you will too. As the proverbial clock ticks down, and consequences arise, the Gladers' only hope is finding a way out of the maze. Will you be there to help them?
Book or movie? BOOK
THE BOOK THIEF
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A classic book from 2005, The Book Thief tells the story of nine-year-old Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl in Nazi Germany. When she's taken in by altruistic Hans and Rosa Hubermann, she finds a new life for herself on Himmel Street, in Molting. At her new school, she befriends her soon-to-be sidekick, Rudy Steiner, and begins a journey full of danger and surprises. When the Hubermanns take in a Jew hiding from the Nazis, it only complicates the story further. Narrated by Death himself, this chilling story of loss and love will amaze and delight through every twist and turn. In terms of book vs. movie, the movie brings so many great moments of the book to life in really interesting ways, but the book exceeds the movie in its emotional capacity, and also for its vivid descriptions of the characters and the world they live in. For me, The Book Thief is a classic tale of times long past that is still relevant--and heart-breaking--even in modern times.
Book or movie? BOOK
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
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I liked the book, and I loved the movie. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an enchanting tale about children with some pretty peculiar powers. One boy is invisible, another has bees living in his stomach, and one girl floats. The lore of the series is that Hollowgasts, or Hollows for short, are monsters that eat the eyes of the Peculiar's eyes to become a wight, or a human with white eyes. To avoid prosecution from the Hollows, Miss Peregrine created a time loop safehaven for as many Peculiar children as she can find. When the main character, Jake (played by Asa Butterfield), follows a note sent to his grandfather and stumbles upon the time loop, he is easily incorporated into life in the children's home. With direction from Tim Burton, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and Corpse Bride, the movie version of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is bright, dark, and everything in between. It greatly encaptures the moods and feelings of the book with the magical realism ramped up. It also explains the whole time loop situation much better than the book does.
Book or movie? MOVIE
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
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This is one of those books that everyone who read it at least understood why others liked it. Unfortunately, it was one of those movies that just made me uncomfortable to watch. The sex scene seemed to last for twenty minutes, and there wasn't even anything else to look at on screen. Awkward... The movie was really interesting otherwise though! Telling the story of Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, a cancer patient and a cancer survivor respectively, The Fault in Our Stars is a charming and heartbreaking tale of looking for endings and making new beginnings. I felt that it better captured some of the more metaphorical moments from the book (and it gets bonus points for showing Amsterdam and the Anne Frank house), but that the book better connected the two to each other and explained why Hazel loves her favorite book so much. For a book and movie that was wildly popular and a touch overhyped, I felt that The Fault in Our Stars was pretty good. If you're looking for a great version of the story, try reading the book first-- you'll enjoy it much better than the movie.
Book or movie? BOOK
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
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This is one of the few book-to-movie adaptations where I saw the movie before I read the book, and I think it really goes to show how much which format you see first affects which format you like best. While both the book and the movie were great, I felt that I actually liked the movie more. This may be due in part to the fact that Jesse Andrews, the author of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, also wrote the screenplay for the movie. The main character, seventeen-year-old Greg Gaines (played by Thomas Mann), is forced by his mother to befriend a girl recently diagnosed with cancer, which, as Jesse Andrews says in the book, "brings about the destruction of [his] entire life." The only fault I had with the movie is that the film Greg ends up making for the dying girl mentioned in the title, Rachel (played by Olivia Cooke), was... not what I expected. Everything else about the movie was amazing, though. The acting wasn't the best I've ever seen, but the personalities of the characters really came out well in the movie version.
Book or movie? MOVIE
CORALINE
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Maybe you're like me and you never read the book Coraline, but odds are that you've seen the movie at some point in your life. Equally awe-inspiring and disturbing, Coraline (directed by Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick) features a girl who ventures into a fantasy world so very much like her own, with an Other Mother, Other Father, and even friends that mirror her own. Then things start getting creepy. Coraline's Other family insists that she stay with them forever after Coraline tells them that they're not her real family (seriously, the creeps have black buttons for eyes), and they even try to get Coraline to sew buttons on her own eyes so she's forced to stay. It only gets weirder from there-- but I won't spoil it for you. You'll just have to go watch it yourself.
HARRY POTTER
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Are you interested in fantasy, daredevilish schemes, or evil lords that have no noses? Well then, give Harry Potter a go! This uber-popular series by world-renowned author J.K. Rowling tells the story of Harry Potter, a boy wizard with a little trouble set in store for him. Though I haven't seen the movies (it's on my to-do list, I swear), I can tell you that the books are amazing. For a nice, quick read, try Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone-- and if you liked it, try the other six books! It sounds like a lot, but in the end, it's totally worth it.
TWILIGHT
Photo credit: Emma K.
Since I never saw the Twilight movies (and never intend to see them), I can't really judge which is better, but I can talk a bit about the books. The Twilight series was one of those fads that was popular for a little while, but looking back, maybe it wasn't so great. On the other hand, though, not every book is for everyone, and maybe you'll be the person to like it. I know I really enjoyed it... when I was a pre-teen. Regardless, if you like werewolves, vampires, and love triangles that will make you shout, "BELLA YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?", this book is perfect for you.
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