Young Adult Novels That Have Become Movies

Card, O. S. (1991). Ender's game. New York: Tor.

 

In the novel, Ender’s Game, six-year-old Andrew “Ender” Wiggins begins training in a military genetic experiment.  The goal of the experiment is to find a strategic military genius that can help defeat alien insects called “Buggers” that are trying to take over Earth.  Ender, however, believes that he is playing a computer war game and does not realize that a more significant game is being played.

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The Ender’s Game novel is a Hugo Awards: Best Novel winner and a Nebula Awards winner.

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Ender’s Game is a 2013 movie released by Summit Entertainment and directed by Gavin Hood.  It stars Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, and Harrison Ford.

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Dashner, J. (2009). The maze runner. New York: Delacorte Press.

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The Maze Runner novel follows the events after 16-year-old Thomas wakes up in an elevator with amnesia.  He finds a group of other boys that have been in the glade for around two years and discovers that they must discover the secrets of the maze in order to survive.

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The Maze Runner novel is a 2011 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults winner, a 2011 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and a 2011 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: What if…winner.

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The Maze Runner is a 2014 movie released by Twentieth Century Fox and was directed by Wes Ball.  It stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Patricia Clarkson, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton Books.

 

The Fault in Our Stars novel tells the story of teenagers, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters and their fight with stage IV cancer.  Even though the teens are facing death, they both decide to live, love, and travel as if they were not sick. 

 

The Fault in Our Stars novel is a 2012 School Library Journal Best Books award, a 2013 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults winner, a 2015 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Book to Movie: Ripped From the Pages winner, and a 2012 Booklist Editors’ Choice-Books for Youth-Older Readers Category winner.

 

The Fault in Our Stars is a 2014 movie released by Fox 2000 Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment and was directed by Josh Boone.  It stars Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe, and Laura Dern.

Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

 

The Giver novel tells the story of twelve-year-old, Jonas, who receives his life assignment at the annual ceremony.  He is to train to become the Receiver of Memory, and it is in his training that he learns about the realities of his world.

 

The Giver novel is a 1994 ALA Notable Children’s Books winner, a Newberry Medal winner, a 2018 Great American Read winner, Young Reader’s Choice Award (Pacific Northwest): Senior winner, and a Golden Duck Awards: Hal Clement Award for Young Adult winner.

 

The Giver is a 2014 movie released by Tonik Productions and Asis Productions and was directed by Phillip Noyce.  It stars Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgard, Jeff Bridges, and Meryl Streep.

Chbosky, S. (1999).  The perks of being a wallflower.  New York: Pocket Books.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower novel follows the lives of teens Charlie, Patrick, and Samantha as they navigate their way through depression, drugs, love, suicide, death, sexual abuse, and high school.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower novel is a 2000 YALSA Best Books for Young Adult winner and a 2000 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers winner.  It is also recognized by the American Library Association’ Young Adult Library Services Association as a 2014 GLBTQ: Books with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer-questioning, Intersex, Asexual Individuals, and their Allies winner.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 2012 movie released by Summit Entertainment and was directed by Stephen Chbosky.  It stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller.

Forman, G. (2009). If I stay. New York: Dutton Books.

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If I Stay novel tells the story of Mia Hall, a seventeen-year-old an accomplished cello player who dreams of getting into Julliard.  When she is in a car accident that puts her in a coma and kills her mother, father, and brother, she struggles to find a reason to fight for her life. 

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If I Stay novel is a 2010 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults winner, a 2015 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Book to Movie: Ripped From the Pages winner, and a 2010 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: Fiction winner.

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If I Stay is a 2014 movie released by MGM and New Line Cinema and was directed by R.J. Cutler.  It stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley, and Mireille Enos.

Lippincott, R., Daughtry, M., & Iaconis, T. (2018). Five feet apart. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

 

The Five Feet Apart novel depicts the life of seventeen-year-olds Stella Grant and Will Newman as they manage their way through the medications, procedures, and fears that go along with having cystic fibrosis.  The rules of cystic fibrosis mean that they must stay six feet apart from each, but Stella decides to steal a foot from the disease.

 

Five Feet Apart is a 2019 movie released by CBS Films and Wayfarer Entertainment and was directed by Justin Baldoni.  It stars Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias, Claire Forlani, and Kimberly Hebert Gregory.  It was nominated for a 2019 MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance for Haley Lu Richardson and four 2019 Teen Choice Awards including Choice Drama Movie and Choice Drama Movie Actor for Cole Sprouse.

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York: Megan Tingley Books.

 

In the Twilight novel, Bella Swan is a seemingly ordinary teenaged girl with a seemingly normal life in the small town of Forks, Washington until the day she meets Edward Cullen.  When Edward enters Bella’s life, she is introduced to a supernatural world filled with vampires and shape-shifting wolves. 

 

The Twilight novel is a 2006 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults winner, a YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: Fiction winner, a WAYRBA-Western Australian Young Readers’ Book Awards: Older Readers winner, and a 2005 School Library Journal Best Books winner.

 

Twilight is a 2008 movie released by Summit Entertainment and directed by Catherine Hardwicke.  It stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattison, Taylor Lautner, and Billy Burke.

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.

 

The Hunger Games novel depicts the United States of the future where the country has been divided into twelve districts.  Every year each district must send one boy and one girl to compete in a battle to the death game.  When Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games, the 74th Hunger Games becomes unlike anything the Capital or the Districts expect.

 

The Hunger Games novel is a 2009 ALA Notable Children’s Books-Older Readers Category winner, a 2008 School Library Journal Best Books winner, and a 2009 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults winner.

 

The Hunger Games is a 2012 movie released by Lionsgate and was directed by Gary Ross.  It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth.

Garcia, K. (2009). Beautiful creatures. New York: Little, Brown and Co.

 

Beautiful Creatures novel tells the story of Ethan Wate, a sixteen-year-old living in Gatlin, South Carolina, and cannot wait to leave.  When he meets Lena Duchannes, he is thrust into her world of magic and casters.  On Lena’s sixteenth birthday, she will be claimed either for the light or the dark, and Ethan will do anything to keep her in the light.

 

Beautiful Creatures novel is a 2015 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Books to Movie: Ripped From the Pages winner.

 

Beautiful Creatures is a 2013 movie released by Warner Bros. Entertainment and Alcon Entertainment, and it was directed by Richard LaGravenese.  It stars Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, and Emma Thompson.

 

Lore, P. (2010). I am number four. New York: Harper.

 

I Am Number Four tells the story of a fifteen-year-old teenager going by the alias of John Smith.  John is actually from the planet of Lorien, and he and other nine children are being hunted and killed in order for their powers by the Mogadorians.  One through three have already been killed, and John is number four.

 

I Am Number Four is a 2012 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers winner, a 2015 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Book to Movie: Ripped From the Pages winner, and a WAYRBA-Western Australian Young Adult Readers’ Books Awards: Older Readers winner.

 

I Am Number Four is a 2011 movie released by DreamWorks and Reliance Big Entertainment and was directed by D.J. Caruso.  It stars Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, and Dianna Agron.

Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.

 

In the Divergent novel, it depicts a post-apocalyptic future, the last remaining humans in Chicago have divided into factions based on their personality traits.  Beatrice Prior does not fit into any one faction, and in her world, that means she is dangerous.  With the help of fellow Dauntless member, Four, Tris must discover the truth about being divergent.

 

The Divergent novel is a 2012 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults winner, a 2012 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: Fiction winner, a 2011 School Library Journal Best Books winner, and a 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards winner.

 

Divergent is a 2014 movie released by Summit Entertainment and was directed by Neil Burger.  It stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Ashley Judd, and Kate Winslet.