Say YA to adaptation

The best book-to-screen jumps these days are all Young Adult titles. How did growing up become the creative secret sauce?

- By Taranna Khetpal

Every time a book-to-film adaptation comes out, the reaction is the same. Excitement. Mild outrage. Someone inevitably typing, “the book was better” in the comments. And yet, Young Adult novels continue their steady march from bedside tables to cinema screens. From Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis and Colleen Hoover’s Verity, to Sunrise on the Reaping and My Oxford Year, everything’s jumping to the screen. Clearly, we are not done watching complicated people fall in love, make questionable decisions, and stare thoughtfully into the distance.

It’s no surprise tha YA has a better track record on screen than most other genres. “Current YA fiction strikes a balance between guilty pleasure and good viewing. Even if the plot isn’t realistic, the characters are,” says Sanika Santosh Rangnekar, 26, founder of a Mumbai-based book club.