YA Friday: The Book Was Better, Pt. V

It's always a blessing and a curse to see a great book turned into a movie or tv series. You hope they get it right but prepare for the worst.

If you’re an avid young adult fiction reader (and extra) like me, there is a strong chance are you’ve already dream cast your favorite YA book and possibly wasted hours paging through carefully curated Tumblr posts and fan trailers to see how other readers envisioned the story. And while most film adaptions don't even compare to the book, there is still the thrill of seeing the same story told in two different mediums. And with more and more YA novels being optioned for film – and actually going into production! – the fun no longer stops at the reader's imagination and the Internet.

Here is a list of the some of the upcoming young adult book to movie adaptations for the second half of 2020. So now you can read the book before the movie and point out all the things they got wrong with your friends.

Love, Victor

Love, Creekwood, book cover

Love, Creekwood Becky Albertalli

It’s been more than a year since Simon and Blue turned their anonymous online flirtation into an IRL relationship and just a few months since Abby and Leah’s unforgettable night at senior prom.

Now the Creekwood High crew are first years at different colleges, navigating friendship and romance the way their story began—on email.

Stream on Hulu June 17

The Baby-Sitter's Club

Kristy's Great Idea, book cover

Kristy's Great Idea Ann M. Martin

Kristy thinks the Baby-sitters Club is a great idea. She and her friends Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne all love taking care of kids. A club will give them the chance to have lots of fun - and make tons of money.

But nobody counted on crank calls, uncontrollable two-year-olds, wild pets, and parents who don't always tell the truth. And then there's Stacey, who's acting more and more mysterious. Having a baby-sitters club isn't easy, but Kristy and her friends aren't giving up until they get it right!

Stream on Netflix July 3

The Kissing Booth 2

Going the Distance, book cover

Going the Distance Beth Reekles

Elle Evans seems to have finally tamed hotter-than-hot bad-boy Noah Flynn, but now they're facing a new challenge. Noah's 3,000 miles away at Harvard, which means they're officially a long-distance couple - and it's tough. After all, there's only so much texts and calls can satisfy - and when Elle sees a post which suggests Noah's getting friendly with someone else, she's devastated.

On top of that, it's hard to ignore the new boy Levi. He's gentle, sweet, cute - and definitely interested in Elle.

With her heart on the line, what's a girl to do?

Stream on Netflix July 24

The Umbrella Academy, Season 2

The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 2: Dallas, book cover

The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 2: Dallas Gerard Way

The team is despondent following the near apocalypse created by one of their own and the death of their beloved mentor Pogo. So it's a great time for another catastrophic event to rouse the team into action. Trouble is - each member of the team is distracted by some very real problems of their own. The White Violin is bedridden due to an unfortunate blow to the head. Rumor has lost her voice - the source of her power. Spaceboy has eaten himself into a near-catatonic state, while Number Five dives into some shady dealings at the dog track and The Kraken starts looking at his littlest brother as the key to unraveling a mysterious series of massacres… all leading to a blood-drenched face-off with maniacal assassins, and a plot to kill JFK!

Stream on Netflix July 31

Chemical Hearts

Our Chemical Hearts, book cover

Our Chemical Hearts Krystal Sutherland

Henry Page (Austin Abrams) has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him-at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town (Lili Reinhart) walks into his first-period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.

Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl-she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there's something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn't your average story of boy meets girl.


Stream on Amazon Prime August 21

Dune

Dune, book cover

Dune Frank Herbert

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the "spice" melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

In Theaters (hopefully) December 18

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone, book cover

Shadow and Bone Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.


Six of Crows, book cover

Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.


Coming to Netflix Late 2020