We love to read but we also like movies, especially movies made from some of our favorite young adult novels. From Divergent, to The Fault in Our Stars, to The Spectacular Now, to The Hunger Games, there is no question that YA novels translate well into film. It could be because so many YA novels feature imaginative high-concept stories that mix action, fantasy, and adventure with intense emotion. Or maybe as Chuck Wendig says, it’s that some young adult novels “read with almost the spare elegance of a really sharp, elegant screenplay.” Or maybe it’s the enduring appeal of a coming-of-age story set in a dark dreamscape, or in a dystopian future, or in that even more terrifying place—high school.
If you love movies about teens in terror, trouble, and turmoil, pull up a chair, make some popcorn, and enjoy our YA Wednesday movie-themed links.
- Hollywood has a long tradition of turning to young adult fiction for films. Long before The Hunger Games there was I Know What You Did Last Summer. Here are 25 movies that were adapted from YA novels.
- There are some great movies based on realistic YA novels that don’t involve vampires or zombies or the end of the world. The Diary of a Teenage Girl, from the graphic novel of the same name takes a non-judgmental look at the life of a teenage girl in the mid-1970s, and raises questions as to what is or isn’t different for teens today.
- Not all of these movies are based on YA novels, but this list of the best high school movies has some must-see films about teens including Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Bring it On.
- Lots of YA novels get made into movies but here are some YA novels that are actually about teens in Tinseltown.
- No movie list is complete without coming attractions. Here are 10 Young Adult Books Being Made into Movies.
What are some of your favorite YA novels that have been made into movies?
They’ve made Z is for Zachariah, a book that fueled my Cold War paranoia, into a movie. And it now has a love triangle. I’m not sure how to react.