YA books that were turned into decent movies

November 24, 6:50 AMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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On Friday I talked about Young Adult books that never should have been turned into movies.  The post generated some great debate and discussion.  Apparently I missed more than a few titles or else movie studios have been making some serious bank releasing a lot of pretty awful films, especially the ones aimed at the teenage crowd.

But for every bad movie based on a novel, there is usually a good one swimming somewhere behind it.  Take the movie  Little Women for example.  Raise your hand if you ever actually read the book.  That's what I thought.  I attempted to work my way through it at the age of 11, but lost interest after Beth died (she was my favorite March sister).  Then the movie came out a few years later with an all-star cast (Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Christian Bale) and it blew me away.  After seeing the film I actually ran home and began rereading the book.  I found the movie to be pretty dead on.  Little Women isn't the only good adaptation out there.  I've included a few more that you might want to Netflix or borrow from your local library.

Image from amazon.com

10 Things I Hate About You based on Shakespeare's play Taming of the Shrew.  I can't think of a better teen film.  When asked my favorite, this usually wins.  Shakespeare for the teen set has been tried several times since then (Othello and Hamlet) but the films lacked the chemistry and witty dialog 10 Things I Hate About You has.  Plus it doesn't hurt that it was filmed mostly in Fremont.

Holes based on the book Holes by Louis Sachar.  Part of the reason the film didn't ruin the book was that Sachar actually wrote the screenplay, so the movie pretty much follows the book.  Shia LaBeouf is well cast as Stanley.  This is a great movie for tweens.

Hoot based on the book by Carl Hiaasan.  This is another good one for the tween crowd.  It doesn't exactly follow the book, but all of the good parts are still there.  The book translates well to the big screen.  I remember thinking the first time I read it that it would make an excellent movie.  I won't say the film was excellent, but it wasn't terrible.  Plus it stars Jimmy Buffett, Luke Wilson, and the Janitor from Scrubs.  The location shots will have you singing "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

Image from Amazon.com

Into the Wild based on the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  I'll admit that I was skeptical about the movie adaptation when I heard Sean Penn was writing the screenplay and directing, but after seeing the film on a long flight to London I changed my mind.  His take on the Christopher McCandless story was nearly identical to what Krakauer wrote.  Penn didn't turn McCandless into a hero like I was afraid he might.  Emile Hirsch was perfectly cast as McCandless.

Persepolis based on the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.  Satrapi co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed the film with Vincent Paronnaud, so it closely follows her graphic novel biography about growing up during the Islamic Revolution.  The animation is done beautifully and the story translates well onto the screen.  It was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year this past April.  It should have won.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix based on the novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling.  Actually, all the Harry Potter films should be added here.  It's a difficult task to turn 700 pages into a movie that is around two hours, but I haven't met anyone who didn't like the movies (or who didn't like the books for that matter).