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My Favorite Movies Based on YA Books

One Rioter shares her favorite YA movie adaptations while waiting for THE HATE U GIVE to begin streaming.

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Holly Genovese

Staff Writer

Holly Genovese is a Ph.D student in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also completing graduate portfolio programs in African and African Diaspora studies, as well as Women's and Gender Studies. Her writing has been published in Teen Vogue, The Washington Post, Electric Literature, The La Review of Books, Literary Hub, Hello Giggles, and many other places.

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We’ve done a lot of writing here at Book Riot about YA book movie adaptations, as we are in a literal golden age. But like, my obsession with the new Dumplin movie (I have seen it at least 5 times) had me thinking about my very favorites!

  1. Dumplin. Though it just came out, this movie definitely has go to comfort movie potential. The sound-track, the romance, the heart warming pageant. Millie. The Patriarchy chant. I can’t get enough, it has won.
  • I am not shocking anyone here by declaring my love of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, but can I please please pretty please live in Lara Jean’s room? Talk about an ideal high school aesthetic.
  • The Outsiders came out in 1983, so you’d be forgiven if you haven’t caught this flick. But I love Coppola’s adaptation of Hinton’s novel. It isn’t heart warming in the cozy way these other movies are, but it’s definitely a fun watch.
  • Released in 2005, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was one of the first YA adaptations I was super invested in. But with Blake Lively, America Ferrara, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn how could I not love it? They all so perfectly fit their character. It’s a tear jerker, but so worth watching, if only to see how it influenced all the adaptations of the last 15 years.
  • The Princess Diaries movie came out when I was in the 5th grade and I have been obsessed with it ever since. Who doesn’t love Mia? The books obviously go far beyond the movies narrative (and the Grandma in the books is way meaner than Julie Andrews) but there is so much to love about this movie-including the Backstreet Boys songs in the soundtrack.

    • As we anxiously await the sequel to To All The Boys, and wait for The Hate U Give to start streaming, these movies are definitely worth checking out!