The 33 Best Young Adult Novel Film Adaptations

Teen love stories, dystopian rebellions and wizard schools that started on a bookshelf and ended up on the big screen. Some beat the novels, a few barely survived the translation.

1. 1
   The Hunger Games

   2012 dystopian adventure of Katniss Everdeen fighting in a televised death match, from Suzanne Collins's novel.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

   2001 film that launched the wizarding franchise, adapted from J.K. Rowling's first novel.
   960pts
3. 3
   Divergent

   2014 dystopian thriller about a girl who fits no faction, based on Veronica Roth's novel.
   914pts
4. 4
   Paper Towns

   2015 mystery-romance about a boy searching for his vanished neighbour, from John Green's novel.
   822pts
5. 5
   The Outsiders

   1983 Francis Ford Coppola drama about rival teen gangs, from S.E. Hinton's novel.
   705pts
6. 6
   The Spectacular Now

   2013 indie drama about a charming party boy and a shy classmate, from Tim Tharp's novel.
   705pts
7. 7
   The DUFF

   2015 high school comedy about the so-called designated ugly fat friend, from Kody Keplinger's novel.
   633pts
8. 8
   Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

   2010 fantasy adventure about a demigod son of Poseidon, from Rick Riordan's novel.
   632pts
9. 9
   The Princess Diaries

   2001 comedy about a San Francisco teen who learns she is heir to a throne, from Meg Cabot's novel.
   632pts
10. 10
    Eragon

    2006 fantasy about a farm boy who finds a dragon egg, from Christopher Paolini's novel.
    632pts
11. 11
    The Maze Runner

    2014 sci-fi thriller about boys trapped in a deadly maze, from James Dashner's novel.
    632pts
12. 12
    The Book Thief

    2013 wartime drama about a girl who steals books in Nazi Germany, from Markus Zusak's novel.
    548pts
13. 13
    If I Stay

    2014 drama about a cellist in a coma deciding whether to live, from Gayle Forman's novel.
    548pts
14. 14
    The Perks of Being a Wallflower

    2012 coming-of-age drama written and directed by Stephen Chbosky from his own novel.
    548pts
15. 15
    The Giver

    2014 dystopian drama about a boy chosen to hold his community's memories, from Lois Lowry's novel.
    548pts
16. 16
    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

    2005 drama about four friends sharing a pair of magic jeans over one summer, from Ann Brashares's novel.
    548pts
17. 17
    The Spiderwick Chronicles

    2008 fantasy about siblings who discover a hidden world of faeries, from Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's books.
    548pts
18. 18
    Mortal Engines

    2018 steampunk adventure of mobile cities and a vengeful girl, from Philip Reeve's novel.
    548pts
19. 19
    The Fault in Our Stars

    2014 romance between two teenage cancer patients, adapted from John Green's novel.
    448pts
20. 20
    Everything, Everything

    2017 romance about a girl with a rare illness who falls for the boy next door, from Nicola Yoon's novel.
    448pts
21. 21
    The Hate U Give

    2018 drama about a teen who witnesses a police shooting of her friend, from Angie Thomas's novel.
    448pts
22. 22
    Twilight

    2008 vampire romance starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, from Stephenie Meyer's novel.
    329pts
23. 23
    To All the Boys I've Loved Before

    2018 Netflix rom-com about a girl whose secret love letters get mailed out, from Jenny Han's novel.
    329pts
24. 24
    Ender's Game

    2013 sci-fi film about a gifted child trained to command Earth's fleet, from Orson Scott Card's novel.
    329pts
25. 25
    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

    2005 fantasy of four siblings entering a frozen magical land, from C.S. Lewis's novel.
    329pts
26. 26
    Speak

    2004 drama starring Kristen Stewart as a teen silenced after a traumatic event, from Laurie Halse Anderson's novel.
    329pts
27. 27
    Chaos Walking

    2021 sci-fi adventure set on a planet where thoughts are audible, from Patrick Ness's novel.
    329pts
28. 28
    Stormbreaker

    2006 spy adventure about a teen recruited by MI6, from Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider novel.
    329pts
29. 29
    Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

    2015 comedy-drama about a teen filmmaker befriending a classmate with leukemia, from Jesse Andrews's novel.
    329pts
30. 30
    Love, Simon

    2018 romantic comedy about a closeted teen, based on Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.
    0pts
31. 31
    Holes

    2003 comedy-adventure about a boy sent to a desert detention camp, from Louis Sachar's novel.
    0pts
32. 32
    All the Bright Places

    2020 drama about two troubled teens who meet on a school bell tower, from Jennifer Niven's novel.
    0pts
33. 33
    Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

    2013 fantasy about a teen who discovers a hidden world of demon hunters, from Cassandra Clare's novel.
    0pts

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