Tag: young adult novels

Movie adaptation: ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle

wrinkleintimepic
The movie adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ is now in theaters.

Madeleine L’Engle was an American writer best known for her young adult novels including ‘A Wrinkle in Time,’ ‘A Wind in the Door,’ ‘A Swiftly Tilting Planet,’ ‘Many Waters’ and ‘An Acceptable Time.’ She received the 1963 Newbery Medal for ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ and together with the two sequels, these books are known as The Time Trilogy. It tells the story of a young girl who, after her father disappears after discovering a new planet, sets off on a quest to find him with the help of three astral travelers. The Disney movie adaptation was released this week and stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Chris Pine.

According to Wikipedia, in ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ the protagonist is thirteen-year-old Meg Murry, who is considered by her classmates as a troublesome and stubborn student. After a visit by their eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Whatsit, she and her younger brother Charles, along with Meg’s classmate Calvin, go visit the local old haunted house where they encounter two companions of Mrs. Whatsit, the equally strange Mrs. Who and the unseen voice of Mrs. Which. She promises Meg that they can help her find and rescue her missing father. They turn out to be supernatural beings who transport Meg, Charles and Calvin through the universe through a folding of the fabric of time and space.

Movie adaptation: ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon

everythingeverythingpic
The movie adaptation of ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon opens in theaters on Friday May 19. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Nicola Yoon is The New York Times best-selling author of “Everything, Everything” and “The Sun is Also a Star,” a Michael L Printz Honor book and a National Book Award finalist. “Everything, Everything” is her debut novel for young adults and the movie adaptation will open in theaters on Friday May 19, 2017. It stars Amanda Stenberg as Maddy and Nick Robinson as Olly and is the story of 17-year-old Madeline Whittier, who has “bubble baby disease.”

According to Wikipedia, in “Everything, Everything,” Madeline is a girl who suffers from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and cannot leave her house or interact with anyone who has not been “sanitized.” The only people she interacts with are her mother and Carla, the nurse who takes care of her. After a new family moves in next door, she meets and befriends their son Olly. They decide to go to Hawaii together because Maddy claims it was the last place she believes she had a ‘normal’ family. Once there she ends up getting sick and is taken to the hospital after which her mother shows up and takes her back home. Eventually, the truth comes out that her mother lied about her being sick because after her father and brother died, Maddy became seriously ill and she was afraid of losing her too. Olly, his mother and sister move out but he and Maddy reunite in New York.

Television adaptation: ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ by Jay Asher

thirteenreasonspic
‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ by Jay Asher is coming to Netflix on March 31. Photo: google

The New York Times’ 2007 bestselling novel “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher is coming to Netflix on March 31 starring Katherine Langford as Hannah Baker and Dylan Minnette Clay Jensen. Aside from writing several picture books and middle school humor novels, Jay Asher writes contemporary novels for young adults including “The Future of Us” and “Thirteen Reasons Why.” The latter has won several awards and has received five stars from Teen Book Review. It is the story of Hanna Baker, a girl who commits suicide and then reveals her reasons why in a series of audio tapes mailed to a classmate.

According to Amazon, in “Thirteen Reasons Why” Clay Jensen is a high school student who comes home from school and finds a mysterious box with his name on it lying on the porch. Inside the box he finds cassette tapes recorded by Hanna Baker, a girl who committed suicide two weeks ago who also happens to be his classmate and crush. In those tapes she explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to make the hard decision about ending her life with Clay being one of those reasons. He spends the rest of the night going around town with Hannah as his guide being a witness to Hannah’s daily struggles and pain. Along the way, what he discovers changes his own life forever.