The 25 Best Young Adult Movie Adaptations

Image via Complex Original

Director: Andrew Davis
Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight and Khleo Thomas

Considering Louis Sachar, the titular novel's author, also wrote the film's screenplay, Holes was bound to be well-received by its loyal readers. In the spirit of the book, the surprisingly intelligent and unpredictable dramedy gives hope to troubled and misunderstood kids everywhere.

Holes follows a wrongfully convicted juvenile delinquent, Stanley Yelnats (try to pronounce it backwards—mind blown, right?), who's been burdened by an age-old family curse, as he and his band of misfits at the detention center are forced to dig a bunch of holes for the facility's scheming warden. The reason behind their manual labor and Yelnats' false imprisonment remain a mystery, but let's just say they're not just for shits and giggles.

Director: Gurinder Chadha
Stars: Georgia Groome, Aaron Johnson, Karen Taylor, Alan Davies and Eleanor Tomlinson

The title sounds like a dirty British joke, and in some ways, it is. Based on two novels by Louise Rennison, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers, the flick hilariously captures the awkwardness of being a 14-year-old girl, from discovering her body (the thongs) to figuring out the logistics of making out (the, in British slang, snogging). 

Director: Miguel Arteta
Stars: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long and Ray Liotta

Following a shy teen who develops an alter ego confident enough to win the girl of his dreams, Youth in Revolt unfairly got a lot of flack, mostly from people who hadn't seen it and assumed it was another mousey Michael Cera movie with the same tired jokes. But if you look past Cera's creeper stash, then you'll be clear-minded enough to appreciate the story's black humor, stemming from C.D. Payne's epistolary novel, Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp. If you can't stop thinking, "Oh god, please shave those catfish whiskers," and miss the point of the movie entirely, then we apologize. There's nothing we can do.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane and Dennis Hopper

From the same duo who brought you The Outsiders—director Francis Ford Coppola and author S.E. Hinton—Rumble Fish tells the story of a young thug who's just trying to be just as down as his cooler, former gang leader older bro.

Due to the film's misunderstood avante-garde style, many audience members walked out of the film's premiere and even booed the screen. However, those who could appreciate Coppola's opulent directing technique loved his fresh take on the classic novel. In the trusted words of the late Roger Ebert, "Rumble Fish was offbeat, daring, and utterly original."

Director: Gary Ross
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley and Woody Harrelson

As any discerning person who's seen the Twilight movies can admit, the expectation for this "next great young adult franchise" was pretty low. Here's what we predicted: cringe-worthy writing (probably thanks to already poorly written source material), painful acting, and a sickening love story. Instead, however, the dystopian film turned out to be as thrilling as it was heartwrenching, even for those who hadn't already been impressed by Suzanne Collins' original book, the first of a trilogy. Bows and arrows, bloody battles, clever traps, and a reluctant romance characterize this tale about an unwitting hero, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who risks her life to protect the only thing she's sure she loves, her sister.

Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Stars: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis and Lauren Graham

For fans of black comedy, It's Kind of a Funny story is irresistible. In the vein of Jonathan Levine's underrated 50/50, the movie, like Ned Vizzini's original book, turns tragedy into comedy without trivializing the seriousness of the plot: a 16-year-old boy, who's just contemplated suicide, checks himself into a psych ward for help, and along the way forms life-changing bonds with some of the patients.

Director: Keith Gordon
Stars: Ilan Mitchell-Smith, John Glover, Doug Hutchison, and Wallace Langham

The story is simple: To get in with the in crowd, a new student must prove himself by sticking it to his Catholic high school officials by refusing to participate in a chocolate-selling fundraiser. But it's not as sugar-coated as it seems. Like the original book by Robert Cormier, the film takes bizarre turns, both visually and thematically.

Although lovers of the book reacted against its markedly more uplifting ending, a departure from the book, the film retains its essence: a big "fuck you" to the man. 

Director: Jack Clayton
Stars: Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd, and Pam Grier

Something Wicked This Way Comes—with a screenplay written by Ray Bradbury, author of the original novel—is as menacing as it sounds. A traveling circus rolls into town, led by a slow-talking spooky devil in a top hat, with the intention of turning the townsfolk into its minions, and its up to two young boys to shut it down.

Inspired by Bradbury's own childhood encounter with a creepy carnival magician, the film, like the novel, captures and expands on the author's twisted childlike imagination.

Director: Nicolas Roeg
Stars: Anjelica Houston, Jasen Fisher, Mai Zetterling, Rowan Atkinson and Jane Horrocks

Despite Roald Dahl claiming the movie was "utterly appalling" for changing his book's ending, The Witches remains a nightmare-fueling classic. (We still panic during the scene of the witches meeting where they tear off their wigs and masks.) The fantasy film was Jim Henson's final project before his death, and his work transported us with the lead characters to another, darker world within our own.

Director: Agnieszka Holland
Stars: Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, and Maggie Smith

You really have to hand it to Mary Lenox. She's only 10, but she's already run out of craps to give. "Oh, what's that? My parents neglect me because they never wanted a kid? Whatever. Their loss. Oh, an earthquake just killed my parents? I'm good. I don't even know what crying is. Oh, I'm being ripped away from my home in India to start over in good ol' England? Well, fire up the tea, baby. Mama's home."

Based on the ever popular book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden has become a favorite to sour-faced sassy girls everywhere. The movie shows Mary's growth from a bitter young girl to a slightly more emotional young girl, who finally learns to cry and helps teach her distant uncle how to laugh again.

Director: Clarence Brown
Stars: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman, Jr., Chill Wills and and Clem Bevans

It's a classic, but at what cost? Marjorie Rawlings—more like Major Bawlings—wrote the novel The Yearling, but Gregory Peck turned the depressing coming-of-age story into a timeless piece of film history.

We're tough on it, yeah, but we're tough on anything that could make us cry. First up, the movie is just about a boy who wants to be loved. Thirteen years after the Civil War, Jody's the only kid still alive in his family, his brothers and sisters all bit the dust. His mom doesn't show any maternal instinct for fear that it'll cause his death. That's a bit of a troubled family, right? His dad (Peck) is cool but doesn't really understand why he may need a little more love in his life—i.e. in the form of the abandoned fawn (who is only abandoned because its mother was killed to draw snake poison out of Jody's mom) that he takes in. You can see where this is going.

Boy meets deer. Boy and deer become best friends. Family forces him to off the deer when it becomes out of control. We're pretty pumped that we didn't grow up in the late 1800s.

Director: Danny DeVito
Stars: Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Pam Ferris and Embeth Davidtz

Matilda is a symbol of hope for any lonely kid. As the cleverest of clever kids, the titular character has been blessed with magical powers she uses to pulls pranks on her neglectful and abusive family when they misbehave. When she finally gets a shot at a regular childhood—that is, her parents enroll her in school—Matilda meets the sweet Miss Honey, who takes her under her wing and helps her take down the terrifying headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.

With this classic, Dahl introduced mistreated kids everywhere to a little something called "justice porn," where bullies get what they deserve. And the film allows us to feast our eyes on exactly what that means. Directed by Danny Devito, the movie gave us then real-life spouses Perlman and DeVito as Matilda's unflichingly detestable parents, a great montage of the prodigy showing off her powers to Rusted Root's "Send Me On My Way," (by the way, the lyrics are "on my way" not, phonetically as we assumed, "om-wah-waah."), and something which gave kids across the nation nightmares—"The Chokey." —HS

Director: Robert Stevenson
Stars: Tommy Kirk, Fess Parker, Dorothy McGuire, Kevin Corcoran and Beverly Washburn

Here's a common misconception: Many people think that the novel, Old Yeller, is named after the dog in the story. Wrong! "Old Yeller" refers to what this novel/movie makes people do, which is basically scream in pain and loss. Thanks, Fred Gipson, you wonderful writer and, we assume based on this story, heartless sonofabitch!

In short, a young boy finds a dog, trades its owner a horny toad (weird) and a homecooked meal for it, and the dog becomes super attached to the boy's family. Adorable, right? The dog saves him from boars and wolves, too! Typical stuff. But then the heroic canine contracts rabies and it's all downhill from there, folks. Have a tissue.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Chloe Moretz, Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Jude Law

If you remember that first Hugo trailer, then you no doubt recall how quickly cinephiles' red flags began waving. Devoted film buffs knew that the almighty Martin Scorsese's latest, an adaptation of author Brian Selznick's whimsical look at silent movies and childhood adventure, was going to be a family-friendly diversion from the director's usual grit, but the initial preview, marred by lame pratfalls and a grimacing dog, hinted at a miscalculation of Marmaduke's caliber.

But then we all woke up and remembered that's Martin fucking Scorsese we're talking about, and the iconic filmmaker's Hugo turned out to be anything but hackneyed, giving due diligence to Selznick's original. Utilizing 3D technology to gorgeous degrees, and anchored by a slew of delightful performances (namely Ben Kingsley's fragile turn as legendary director George Meiles), Hugo is uplifting and welcoming enough for the kids, but, really, it's a grown-up movie lover's playpen.—MB

Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Stars: Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway, Tami Stronach, Alan Oppenheimer Thomas Hill and Gerald McRaney

You don't have to step into author Michael Ende's own NeverEnding Story—the filmmakers have literally done this for you. At the time, the film was the most expensive movie produced outside of the U.S. and the USSR, and with good reason: The visual effects are mind blowing. Plus, puppets—huge puppets that the lead character could ride on. We're making it sound like a huge joke, but the movie is still considered a true fantasy masterpiece.

Honestly, who hasn't daydreamed about this movie happening to them? A quiet boy who reads gets transported to a magical world in a book where he's the hero. Nerds win!

Director: Gillian Armstrong
Stars: Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale and Susan Sarandon

It is easy to assume that Little Women is just a sappy love story. But trust your sobbing girlfriends (seriously, sobbing, every time its on the Hallmark Channel), it is so much more than a slumber party movie. It's about the pressure of familial obligations, the uncertainty of love and growing up experiencing all forms of heartbreak, including death. Plus Batman's in it! Plot twist! (Note: He is not actually "Batman" in Little Women.)

The author, Louisa May Alcott, based her novels on her own childhood with her three sisters growing up in New England during the post-Civil War, and the film boasted outstanding performances by would-be A-list stars that satisfyingly honored that personal history.

Director: David Yates
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon and Helena Bonham Carter

With the breakneck and superb final entry Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the producers behind the record-breaking Harry Potter movie franchise didn’t just wave goodbye to theater patrons—they chucked up gangster deuces. Dumbledore fanatics who’ve been with the series since 2001’s Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone received a nonstop action spectacle that satisfyingly tied up the overarching plotlines that hooked faithful readers, mainly Harry’s feud with Lord Voldemort and Hermione’s reluctance to slide into first base with prudish Ron; for apathetic ticket-buyers, director David Yates’ ending of the Potter brand delivered more impressive effects and awe-inspiring set-pieces than any other summer product that year.

Potter’s staggering gross figures stand as Hollywood’s highest dollar amounts for any movie franchise, but, artistically, that’s not the biggest victory that Deathly Hallows: Part 2 solidified. That distinction goes to the film’s gratifying sendoff quality; fears of Daniel Radcliffe’s iconic character suffering through a swan song akin to The Matrix Revolutions or The Godfather Part III have officially been assuaged. —MB

Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke and Frank Morgan

The Wizard of Oz plays out like your worst nightmare: hordes of tiny, creepy men with tans more orange than Snooki's, a kitschy town that looks as fake as a super-sized version of a department store's Christmas window display, human-sized flying monkeys, and an evil green witch with a maniacal laugh. But this is a children's movie, and a beloved one at that, despite the fact that it's a more pared down version—characters merged, plot details omitted, etc.—of the original novel it's adapted from, L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Though The Wizard of Oz was a box office flop when it was first released, just barely recouping the three million dollars spent on production, it got a second life when it started being telecast annually in 1956. To this day, parents and children are still delighted to tune in and watch Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow skip to see the Wizard whenever the flick airs during major holidays.

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Stars: Liesel Matthews, Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, and Vanessa Lee Chester

From the man who directed Children of Men and Y Tu Mamá También came...a movie about an orphaned little girl's adventures in boarding school? Da fuq?! We know it sounds like a sort of midlife crisis-y project to have taken on, but it's one of Cuarón's most profound films (and it was made well before those other films).

Loosely based on the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel of the same name, the movie depicts the magical realism of the original remarkably and vividly—complete with spontaneous snowfalls and mythical figures.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Stars: Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Lauren Bacall, Emily Mortimer and Billy Crystal

Upon forking over the rights to her book, English writer Diana Wynne Jones stayed hands-off the making of the film. It would be abold move if anyone but Hayao Miyazaki film was at the helm. The genius is Japan's answer to Pixar—nothing he does fails. And Howl's Moving Castle, about an 18-year-old girl who, with the help of a wizard in a floating fortress, must reverse an evil witch's spell that's turned her fugly, only serves to prove that.

Director: Henry Selick
Stars: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Jennifer Saunders and Ian McShane

British novelist and comic book scribe Neil Gaiman penned a children's novel called Coraline in 2002, and it swept awards for genre novellas in 2003. It wasn't long before the film dropped, turning Gaiman's creepy tale of a young girl who travels to a different world where nothing is what it seems (first sign? Her parents have buttons for eyes—it's terrifying) into a gorgeous stop-motion animation masterpiece.

Seeing as Gaiman had a hand in the production, Coraline couldn't miss. It's also one of the few films worth seeing in 3D. —RS

Director: Rob Reiner
Stars: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Billy Crystal and Mandy Patinkin

Don't be fooled by the title—Rob Reiner's adaptation of William Goldman's novel of the same name has become a go-to for anyone flipping through cable on a Saturday night. In the words of the cult classic's narrator grandfather (Peter Falk), it's got every awesome thing you'd want in a fantasy flick: "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles." 

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez and Diane Lane

Besides the super-cast of young talent (we're talking young Cruise, Swayze, Lowe and Diane Lane, and we'll also mention the film helped start The Brat Pack of the '80s), The Outsiders is one of the most exhilarating gang films ever produced. Which is pretty dope, seeing as how it was based on a novel written by a 16-year-old girl, S. E. Hinton, in 1967.

The film focuses on the mounting tension between two gangs who are polar opposites on the social ladder, the Socs and the Greasers. Gang wars, noble deeds and winning the affection of girls is all covered in the teen angst piece disguised as a badass brawl.

Director: Robert Mulligan
Stars: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Robert Duvall and Brock Peters

To Kill a Mockingbird remains one of the greatest novel-to-film adaptations of all time. Thanks to its stars, the amazing Gregory Peck and the adorable Mary Badham, Harper Lee's story, loosely based on her own childhood with her neighborhood friend, Truman Capote, comes to life. The movie, just like the book, has the perfect combination of a coming-of-age story of a young girl, her brother and her best friend's many adventures, and of her father's fight in the long war for equality in the South. 

Director: Stephen Chbosky
Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Reese Thompson, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Nicholas Braun

With its young cast and high school angst vibes (seen via the early batches of promotional stills and trailers), writer-director Stephen Chbosky's adaptation of his own popular young-adult novel gave non-readers of the book the impression that, at best, it'd be a somewhat more thoughtful version of American Pie. Boy, were they dead wrong.

The emotional wallops stored inside the vastly underrated The Perks of Being a Wallflower are some of the most poignant felt in teen movie history. Hats off to young stars Logan Lerman (as an insecure kid looking for friendship while battling depression and other personal demons), Ezra Miller (as the perky yet susceptible-to-pain gay teen who befriends Lerman's character), and Emma Watson (Lerman's bubbly, heart-melting, seemingly unattainable love interest), each of whom give honest, raw performances that go well beyond the usual high school cinema levels and do justice to Chbosky's beloved characters. 

Although some will argue the film is all too new to top an all-time list, we can guarantee you that just like the original book is a staple in every lonesome kid's locker, a copy of the movie will be a permanent fixture on the shelves of viewers (and not just movie lovers) everywhere. —MB, TA