If you happened to read my last blog entry you know how much I enjoyed the movie adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It made me think of all the other contemporary books I'd be thrilled to see adapted for the silver screen. I'm very happy to note that Before I Die, a wonderful YA book that broke my heart, has also been made into a film, renamed as Now is Good. But that still leaves plenty of excellent YA material to adapt and here's my top ten wish list:
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Stolen: There's such an odd beauty about this story of
a girl abducted at an airport and whisked away to the
Australian outback and the right director (Jane Campion?)
could turn it into an equally magical film.
*
Boy Toy: My favourite Barry Lyga book deals with the difficult
subject matter of a seventeen-year-old boy molested by
a teacher five years earlier. As far as I'm concerned
there's not a single false note in what could also be
a fantastic film by someone who knows how to handle nuanced
dramas. Someone like Peter Berg (writer-director of Friday
Night Lights) perhaps!
*
Some Girls Are: I don't know how Courtney Summers manages
to make mean girl Regina such a sympathetic character,
but this is both a fascinating and chilling story of the
cruel power dynamics that play out in high school. Sadly,
that's a topic that's only grow more relevant in the last
few years. Since I've started watching the first season
of American Horror Story I've been thinking that
Taissa Farmiga (Violet) would be riveting as the steely
mean girl turned target character of Regina.
*
Let's Get Lost: Sarra Manning really knows how to write
chemistry and, although this isn't strictly a romance,
with the right young actors cast as Isabel and Smith the
sparks would FLY.
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Broken Soup: There's a mystery at the centre of this drama
that makes this story of a brother's death even more compelling.
Lone Scherfig's An Education convinces me she'd
be the ideal director for this.
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48 Shades of Brown: I jotted down this list before finding
out this way already made into a movie back in 2006 (which
I'll obviously have to check out!). But here's what I
was going to write about it: Lighter material than most
of the other books I've named here, Nick Earl's novel
is the charming, funny and realistic tale of a teenage
boy who moves in with his young aunt while his parents
are in Geneva for work and promptly develops a crush on
her roommate. Director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like
Beckham) or Greg Mottola (Adventureland) are
both equally perfect for this jaunty material.
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Tyrell: I can't imagine anyone, of any age, not
being captivated by Coe Booth's story of an inner city
teenager in a homeless shelter trying to hold things together
for his younger brother while fielding numerous other
issues (including relationships with girls) in his own
life. Gritty without being overwhelming bleak, Tyrell
isn't the type to feel sorry for himself so we don't either.
But you root for him all the way in what, in my opinion,
is already a very cinematic story.
*
Recovery Road: Like alot of folks, I first fell in love
with Blake Nelson's work with Girl. But I just
might even like this book about the love and friendship
between two recovering young drug addicts even better.
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (writers & director of
Half Nelson, It's Kind of a Funny Story and
Sugar), you two need to read this!
*
Teach Me: There's zero melodrama in this story of a romantic
relationship between a female teenager and her male teacher.
Instead it's admirably forthright with not a cliche in
sight and I think Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine)
could be the one to accomplish the same with the film.
*
Gentlemen: This YA has one of the most arresting covers
I've seen in recent years and the story inside is just
as arresting. Mike's friend Tommy is missing and meanwhile
their hate English teacher is acting very strange indeed.
Coincidence? I was on edge for the entire story and think
Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank) would be ideal for this edgy
material that feels liable to erupt at any second.
