Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) tells (Lily Collins) about his childhood in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Photos courtesy of Constantin Film and Unique Features.

The first movie adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s popular urban fantasy series (S & S), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones takes the opposite approach of “The Twilight Saga.” It emphasizes action above all else, keeping the lingering close-ups of its gooey-eyed, mismatched couple, Brooklyn artsy hipster Clarissa “Clary” Fray (Lily Collins) and the pale and petulant Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower), to a clipped minimum. The producers, who previously made the “Resident Evil” action films, provide the thrill of the chase and a sprinkling of the romance.

The screenplay prowls right through Clare’s story line, covering the first 120 pages of City of Bones (2007) within a half-hour, shuffling through the chronology of events. Sixteen-year-old Clary witnesses a murder in a nightclub that no other clubbers can see, and the next day, her single mom, Jocelyn (Lena Headey, so youthful she could pass as the lead’s older sister), disappears after two thugs break into their apartment. In this knockabout sequence, Jocelyn strikes the towering men with anything she can get her hands on,

Jocelyn is a former Shadowhunter, an angel-human demon slayer, and has been protecting the Mortal Cup, which renegade Shadowhunter Valentine (the smarmy Jonathan Rhys Meyers) covets. Without it, his race is a dying breed.

Knowing that Clary’s life is in danger, Jace—a swaggering Shadowhunter—promises to protect her from Valentine’s army of shape-shifting demons, and to help her find her mom. True to his word, Jace proves to be super-acrobatic, somersaulting in the air and landing firmly on his feet, weapon in hand.

Robert Sheehan as Simon, Clary’s best friend.

So yes, the movie’s dominated by plot instead of Clary’s discovery of her lineage—she’s part-Shadowhunter, after all—with recognizable snatches of the novel heard between the crash-and-boom special effects. The framework of the author’s romantic triangle remains, with Clary’s lovestruck best friend, the nerdy Simon (Robert Sheehan) lagging behind her and her superpowered love interest. Many of the novel’s subplots have also disappeared: Simon is not turned into a rat, for one example.

As it progresses, the movie’s production design doesn’t skimp on the creepiness, and becomes full-on gothic, with scads of skeleton bones . The demonic creatures take after the viscous, multi-jawed creatures of Alien. Yet the movie has a PG-13 intensity with a light touch of camp. Jace delivers his droll putdowns as if it exhausts him, and Clary fights off vampires in a black mini-dress with thigh-high boots, making any Bond girl proud.

However, the logic of Clare’s universe becomes muddled; Valentine simply and bluntly wants to dominate all non-humans. Motivations are abridged to set the scene for the next fight, where a couple of Shadowhunters and a tag-along Clary battle hordes of villains. With the plot pruned down to its essentials, the story’s mixture of myths and legends feels formulaic. In the climactic nocturnal showdown, the editing intercuts three different to-the-death confrontations, each prolonged, with the characters repeating the same moves. The lengthy sequence might prompt viewers to think that only the inevitable daylight will end the battle with rampaging vampires.

Clary and Jace share a lovey-dovey moment.

If this movies does, in fact, launch a franchise, it will be in no small part to the casting of the cool but debonair Campbell Bower as Jace, and for the appeal of Collins as Clary (those lips, those eyes, those eyebrows). In the meantime, it’s a passable late-summer stand-in for its core audience until the new fall CW television season begins.

Directed by Harald Zwart

Rated PG-13

130 min.

Aimee (Shailene Woodley) and Sutter (Miles Teller). Photos courtesy of A24 Films

Director James Ponsoldt’s sharp take on Tim Tharp’s 2008 novel (Knopf) gives The Spectacular Now a higher level of maturity and complexity than most young adult book-to-movie adaptations. Party boy and high school senior Sutter Keely (the very affable Miles Teller) lives for the moment. He can smooth talk his way past a bar doorman or charm a teacher when he doesn’t turn in homework. Whether it’s 10 a.m. or in the middle of the day, it’s never too early for a buzz—he keeps his flask filled and in his back pocket. After being dumped by his girlfriend, Cassidy, the teen parties hard and wakes up passed out on a stranger’s front yard. Sutter comes to when he’s wakened up by a girl his age.

Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley, in full plain-Jane mode) knows Sutter’s name, but she’s only vaguely familiar to him; they don’t travel in the same social circles. He has no idea where his car is, so he accompanies his Good Samaritan, on her early morning paper route (no, it’s not a period piece) to search for it. Major manga-fan Aimee is a clean slate: she doesn’t cuss, has never had a boyfriend, and has only one friend. (And, she’s not exactly trendy: she has unicorn figurines in her bedroom.)

As their relationship starts to change, the class clown continuously deflects the truth, telling his best friend, who sees Aimee as a “strange choice for a rebound,” that he just wants her to tutor him in geometry. Yet, Sutter asks her out to a party in the woods, where she takes a sip from his offered flask—her first taste of alcohol. He rationalizes that he just wants to help Aimee increase her confidence, treating her like a pet project, with little thought of the repercussions.

The director’s attention to well-rounded, non-stereotypical characterization is spread evenly throughout the ensemble. A noteworthy example is how the film treats Cassidy, the pretty, popular, and blonde ex-girlfriend. It would have been easy to cast her as a shallow harpy, but the script gives actress Brie Larson an opportunity to flesh out the character. In a wistful scene, Cassidy gropes for words to explain what she wants from a boyfriend, finally getting out that ultimately, Sutter comes up short.

Habitually slouching with her arms crossed in front of her, Aimee’s the self-effacing and shy girl-next-door type. However, she’s not exactly a positive influence on Sutter, but an acquiescing enabler. She persistently ingratiates herself to him, joining in drink after drink.

Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, known for (500) Days of Summer, boil down Tharp’s novel, in which Sutter’s gift of gab and his justifications for always having 7UP and whisky at the ready take center stage. Neustadter and Weber whittle down the story line to focus it on his mentorship-turned-romance with Aimee. The book’s extraneous characters and digressions won’t be missed.

Though his narrative voice is less wise and grown-up than on the page (where he’s a big Dean Martin fan), on screen Sutter speaks more like an average 17-year-old ‘Joe’. Tharp set his story around Oklahoma City, but the movie could take place in any leafy suburb with a Kmart and a KFC lining the main drag. The biggest departure between the two is that the movie suddenly wraps things up as Sutter takes an initiative towards sobriety. It’s an abrupt move considering how everything else has unfolded in stages. It is only at this point  that the movie spells out its themes.

The film will likely draw viewers to the book, and conversely, this adaptation will bring attention to director Ponsoldt’s earlier film, Smashed, which was equally alcohol soaked, about an elementary school teacher taking the wobbly road towards a booze-free life. Both movies could be considered versions of Days of Wine and Roses for millennials. The Spectacular Now would also make an ideal double feature with the equally smart and hip The Perks of Being a Wallflower. These two adaptations (along with the sadly little-seen Fat Kid Rules the World), have proven that there’s more to YA movies than magic potions or dystopia. It opens in New York and Los Angeles on August 2, and nationwide on August 23.

Director: James Ponsoldt

Rated R

95 minutes (bluer than The Perks of Being a Wallflower but tame compared to cable TV)

Director and co-writer Lawrence Blume, author and co-writer Judy Blume, and actress Amy Jo Johnson (Gwen Wexler) answer questions after screening of Tiger Eyes, the first motion picture adaptation of one of the author’s novels. Photos by Chelsey Philpot.

On June 7,  Tiger Eyes (PG-13) premiered in select theaters nationwide and was also released simultaneously on Video On Demand and iTunes. Co-written by Judy and Lawrence, who also directed, this film is the first adaptation of one of the iconic author’s novels. Actress Amy Jo Johnson, who plays the main character’s mother in the film, joined the Blumes in a panel discussion and Q & A session with the audience at the movie’s premiere at the AMC Theaters in Times Square, New York City.

For more information, read Betsy Bird’s interview with the mother/son team.

See also: Tiger Eyes and Transliteracy: Confessions of Someone Who Hasn’t Read the Novel

In this latest installment of our roundup of new book-based releases, you’ll find updates on already touted future movies as well as news of recent titles that have been optioned for future projects.

Coming Soon

The following adaptations, in order of release date, will be debuting in movie theaters in the coming weeks and months.

Following the success of the Academy Award-winning animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce’s picture book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs (HarperCollins, 1996), will make its way to the big screen as a longer animated film entitled Epic (PG). Directed by Chris Wedge, and featuring the voices of Josh Hutcherson (Nod), Amanda Seyfried (Mary Katherine), Colin Farrell (Ronin), Jason Sudeikis (Bomba), and Beyoncé Knowles (Queen Tara), it’s coming to theaters on May 24.

Queen of teen lit Judy Blume’s 1981 young adult classic Tiger Eyes is finally getting a  theatrical debut; the big screen and video-on-demand releases are set for June 7. Directed by Blume’s son Lawrence, the film was given the green light for a film adaptation after more than 30 years in print. It chronicles the story of Davey (played by Willa Holland) a young girl attempting to cope with the sudden death of her father. Amy Jo Johnson (Gwen Wexler) and Tatanka Means (Wolf – Martin Ortiz) also lead the cast.

Based on Tim Tharp’s 2008 National Book Award YA finalist (Knopf, 2007), The Spectacular Now is making the rounds a several independent film circuits, including the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Alexandre Aja and showcasing the rising teen stars Miles Teller (Sutter) and Shailene Woodley (Amy), it will have a limited release this summer starting August 2.

Logan Lerman returns to his demigod roots on August 7 in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the sequel to Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief, both based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling series. Much of the cast has returned, including Brandon T. Jackson (Grover Underwood) and Alexandra Daddario  (Annabeth Chase). Some new characters to watch for are Douglas Smith as Tyson, Percy’s half-brother, and Leven Rambin as Clarisse La Rue, the daughter of Ares.

Forget about vampires and werewolves—on August 23, the Nephilim (or super-powered half-angels) will take over in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, the adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s bestselling series (S & S). Lily Collins portrays Clary Fray, a New York City teen who is thrown in the middle of a secret world of demons when her mother (Lena Headey) is attacked by one. Then she meets Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower), who is the key to understanding who (or what) she really is.

No list would be complete without including the next chapter of the “Hunger Games” phenomenon. Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta), and (Liam Hemsworth) Gale reprise their roles in the action-packed Catching Fire on November 22. Joining the love triangle is a new cast of characters and the talented actors that will portray them, including Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), and Amanda Plummer (Wiress).

In the Pipeline

Below are several book-to-movie adaptations scheduled to hit theaters next year, for which fans are already anxiously waiting.

The Maze Runner (Delacorte, 2009) by James Dashner is set for a February 14, 2014, release date; the film will be directed by Wes Bell from a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim (redrafted by Grant Myers and T.S. Nowlin), for 20th Century Fox. Leading the cast will be Dylan O’Brien; with Will Poulter (Gally) and Kaya Scodelario (Teresa) also on board to star.

Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011) by Veronica Roth will be released on March 21, 2014, directed by Neil Burger from a screenplay by Evan Daugherty. The star-studded cast began filming April 8 in Chicago, where the futuristic story is set. Getting a “Hunger Games” treatment, the up-and-coming Shailene Woodley (Tris Prior) plays the lead, and she will be surrounded by industry veterans, including Kate Winslet (Jeanine Matthews), Theo James (Four), Jai Courtney (Eric), Ashley Judd (Natalie Prior), Tony Goldwyn (Andrew Prior), Mekhi Phifer (Max), Maggie Q (Tori),  and Zoë Kravitz (Christina).

Classics, At Last

Below are a few book-to-movie adaptations that fans have been awaiting for a long, long time.

Disney’s live-action movie based on Judith Viorst’s 1972 well-known picture book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (S & S) is making tiny steps closer to the screen. Miguel Arteta is set to direct, and Lisa Cholodenko and Rob Lieber are writing the screenplay. Steve Carrell and Jennifer Garner are set to take on the roles of Alexander’s parents.

Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved A Wrinkle in Time (Farrar, 1962) is to finally be made into a feature film with a script written by Jeff Stockwell, who penned the screen adaptation of A Bridge to Terabithia for Disney in 2007. Disney currently has the rights to the book and is working on the new version with Bedrock, which had negotiated rights to the property from the L’Engle estate.

And while Jane Austen’s first published novel has been remade again and again, a new iteration might be making it to the big screen that is quite different than its predecessors. Panorama will produce, finance, and rep foreign sales for a film adaptation of the bestselling mash-up novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Quirk, 2009) by Seth Grahame-Smith. David O. Russell has written the screenplay but is not officially attached yet as director. Several producers and directors have been linked to the project in the past few years, with Natalie Portman reportedly cast in the lead. However, many of principals have left the project, and Lily Collins announced recently that she will be starring.

Building Buzz

Several more adaptations have been announced in recenty, although firm details about those projects are continuing to unfold.

John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) will be produced by Fox 2000 and directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It will star Shailene Woodley (Hazel), yet the role of Augustus “Gus” Waters has not yet been cast. Currently it’s one of the most sought after roles in Hollywood, with many young male actors vying and testing for the part. Some of those actors in the running are Brenton Thwaites, Nat Wolff, Nick Robinson, Noah Silver, and Ansel Elgort. Rumored to be in the running: Logan Lerman and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Stay tuned!

Made official only yesterday, Lionsgate has hired Jack Thorne to adapt R.J. Palacio’s bestselling and award-winning Wonder (Knopf, 2012). David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing for Mandeville Films.

Stephanie Sanditz is writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s “The Infernal Devices” (S & S)  for Constantin Film.

Piers Ashworth is writing the screenplay based on Kristin Cashore’s Graceling (Harcourt, 2008) for Reliance Entertainment & Kintop Pictures. The film version will be produced by Deepak Nayar, Tabrez Noorani and Leigh Ann Burton.

Director Mikael Håfström has signed on to direct an adaptation of Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams’s Tunnels (Scholastic/Chicken House, 2007) for Relativity Media. The screenplay is being written by Andrew Lobel, Joel Bergvall, and Simon Sandquist.

Producer David Heyman is eyeing an adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone (Holt, 2012).

CBS Films is pursuing film versions of Marie Lu’s Legend and Prodigy (Putnam), with Jonathan Levine attached as director.

Stuart Beattie is writing a screenplay of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Little, Brown, 2011) for producers Joe Roth and Palek Patel at Universal Pictures.

Michael Scott is writing the screenplay to adapt his own book The Alchemyst (Random, 2008) for producers Mario Andreacchio, Konstantin Thoeren, Stefan Brunner, and Scott and Barry Krost at AMPCO Films. Eric Bress was previously attached as director, but has reportedly dropped out of the project.

Annie Sage’s Septimus Heap: Magyk (HarperCollins, 2004) is getting a screenplay written by Peter Craig for producers Karen Rosenfelt and Angie Sage at Warner Bros. David Frankel is set to direct.

Director Rob Letterman has signed on for an adaptation of R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps (Scholastic) from producer Neal H. Moritz, for Sony Pictures and Scholastic Entertainment.

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman will take on Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking: The Knife of Never Letting Go (Candlewick, 2008) for Doug Davison at Lionsgate.

Catherine Fisher’s Incarceron (Dial, 2010) has been newly optioned by AMBER Entertainments, replacing its previous agreement with Fox that had Taylor Lautner attached to star.

Producers Tobey Maguire and Graham King are looking to bring Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave (Putnam, 2013) to the screen through GK Films.

Producers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith are bringing Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races (Scholastic, 2011) to the big screen with Warner Bros.

Director Tim Burton will be adapting Ransom Riggs’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Quirk, 2011) from a screenplay by Jane Goldman.

Warner Brothers, Heyday Films, and Benderspink will be collaborating on Dan Krokos’s The Planet Thieves (Tor, 2013). Producers Pouya Shahbazian and David Heyman are reportedly attached.

Meanwhile, on the Small Screen

Film producers aren’t the only ones mining the bookshelf for great ideas. Production is already underway for such popular series as Lauren Oliver’s Delirium (HarperCollins) and The Selection (HarperCollins, 2012) by Kiera Cass. The re-vamped pilot of Cass’s work is cross between The Bachelorette and the “Hunger Games” series; the now older cast stars Yael Grobglas (America Singer), Michael Malarkey (Prince Maxon), Celia Massingham (Celeste), and Lucien Laviscount (Aspen Leger). The CW drama is being written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and directed by Alex Graves.

Shonda Rhimes, creator of ABC television shows Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal, is producing a version of Debra Driza’s sci-fi thriller MILA 2.0 (HarperCollins, 2013). Dave DiGilio will write the drama project, with Betsy Beers also producing.

FilmColony has acquired Lizabeth Zindel’s Girl of the Moment (Viking, 2007), hoping to adapt the YA novel as a half-hour comedy series. Development executive Melanie Donkers will produce, with Richard N. Gladstein and Zindel signed on as writers.

As-Yet Unpublished

Several film adaptations are reportedly in the works for as-yet unpublished works.

Acquired in a major literary auction, Cristin Terrill’s debut novel All Our Yesterdays, set to be published by Disney-Hyperion this September, has already been optioned by Global Produce and Gold Circle Entertainment. Brian Miller has been tapped to adapt Terrill’s novel for film. The book is “set in the near-future when a young woman must travel back in time to kill her first love before he destroys her present-day world,” according to the publisher.

Columbia Pictures has preemptively acquired the rights to Arwen Elys Dayton’s YA novel Seeker (Delacorte, 2015), with the Mark Gordon Company attached to produce the film adaptation. Producers include Hannah Minghella and Michele Wolkoff, with Rachel O’Connor and Eric Fineman. The futuristic trilogy will focus on Quin Kincaid “who has been put through years of brutal training for what she thinks is the noble purpose of becoming a revered ‘Seeker.’ Only when it’s too late does she discover she will be using her new found knowledge and training to become an assassin,” according to the publisher.

Slated for publication in 2014 by Penguin, the first title in Sally Green’s new series of books will be adapted for the screen by producer Karen Rosenfelt for Fox. Half Bad launches the series about two factions of witches that are locked in an eternal battle between evil and good.

In fact, 2013 already promises a packed calendar of book-related film projects based on popular kid and young adult titles. Check out this roundup of releases that will have your students and patrons heading to the theater—and, hopefully, to bookshelves as well.

Coming Soon

The following adaptations, in order of release date, will be debuting in movie theaters in the coming weeks and months.

Oz the Great and Powerful (PG), starring James Franco, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis, opens in theaters everywhere on March 8. Directed by Spiderman trilogy master Sam Raimi, it’s inspired by Frank L. Baum’s classic, The Wizard of Oz.

Hoping to replicate the Twilight saga’s runaway success, the film version (PG-13) of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host (Little, Brown, 2008), which chronicles the tale of Melanie Stryder’s (Saoirse Ronan) struggle against a parasitic alien that wants to use her to destroy humanity, premieres March 29.

The Roaring Twenties come to life in Baz Lurhmann’s dizzying adaptation (PG) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. On May 10, moviegoers will watch a star-studded cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan), and Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway). Though not a children’s book, it’s certainly a high school curriculum favorite.

Logan Lerman, fresh off his leading role in Perks of Being a Wallflower, steps back into demigod shoes on August 16 in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the sequel to Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief, both based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling series.

The first title in Cassandra Clare’s “The Mortal Instruments” series, City of Bones (S & S, 2007), will be making its way to the big screen on August 23. Lily Collins portrays Clary Fray, a teen from New York City who discovers the secret world of Shadowhunters (super-powered half-angels) when her mother (Lena Headey) is kidnapped by a demon.

The Seventh Son will be coming to theaters on October 18. This dark fantasy is based on the first installment of Joseph Delaney’s “Wardstone Chronicles” (HarperCollins), The Spook’s Apprentice. Ben Barnes plays the title character, and Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore also star.

Sci-fi classic Ender’s Game (St. Martin’s Pr., 1985) by Orson Scott Card will finally be getting the film treatment in this November 1 release. Asa Butterfield, the movie’s star who has been in several book adaptations (Hugo Cabret, Boy in the Striped Pajamas), portrays a military child genius who must save the world from evil aliens. Gavin Hood is both the director and screenwriter. The cast also includes Abigail Breslin (Valentine Wiggin0, Hailee Steinfeld (Petra Arkanian), Harrison Ford (Colonel Hyrum Graff), and Sir Ben Kingsley (Mazer Rackham). Not originally published as a YA novel, it has an avid teen following.

In the Pipeline

Below are several book-to-movie adaptations, scheduled to hit theaters next year, for which fans are already anxiously waiting.

The Maze Runner (Delacorte, 2009) by James Dashner is set for a February 14, 2014, release date; the film will be directed by Wes Bell.

Vampire Academy (Penguin/Razorbill, 2007) by Richelle Meade is also set for a February 14, 2014 release; the film adaptation, called Blood Sisters, will be directed by Mark Waters from a screen play by Daniel Waters. It will star Zooey Deutch (Rose Hathaway), Lucy Fry (Princess Lissa), and Danila Kozlovsky (Dimitri).

Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011) by Veronica Roth will be released on March 21, 2014, directed by Neil Burger from a screenplay by Evan Daugherty. It reportedly will star Shailene Woodley (Tris) and Kate Winslet.

Building Buzz

Several more adaptations have just been announced in recent weeks, although firm details about those projects are continuing to unfold.

John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) will be produced by Fox 2000 and directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It reportedly will star either Shailene Woodley or Hailee Steinfeld.

Gayle Forman’s If I Stay (Dutton, 2009) will be produced by Summit Entertainment and directed by RJ Cutler. It will star Chloë Moretz (Mia).

Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Knopf, 2006) will be produced by Karen Rosenfelt at Fox 2000 and directed by Brian Percival. It will star Sophie Nélisse (Liesel), Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson (foster parents), Ben Schnetzer (Max), and Nico Liersch.

A live-action adaptation of John Rocco’s Blackout (Hyperion/Disney, 2011) will be produced by John Rocco and Ivana Schecter-Garcia at Fox 2000. Will Davies is writing the screenplay. A director has not yet been named.

A new version of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden will be produced by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Johnson from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar. It will be reportedly set in the American Southwest. A director has not yet been named.

Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins, 2008) will be produced by Disney and directed by Ron Howard.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver (Houghton Mifflin, 1992) will be produced by Nikki Silver and reportedly directed by Phillip Noyce. It is set to star Jeff Bridges (The Giver).

Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood (Tor Teen, 2011) will be produced by Stephenie Meyer for Fickle Fish.

Not Yet Published

Several film adaptations are reportedly in the works for as-yet unpublished works.

An adaptation of Margaret Stohl’s Icons (Little, Brown, 2013) will be produced by Alcon Entertainment from a screenplay by Massy Tadjedin. A director has not yet been named.

The film version of Josin L. McQuein’s Arclight (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2013) will be produced by Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment from a screenplay by Matthew Sand. A director has not yet been named.

Meanwhile, on the Small Screen

Film producers aren’t the only ones mining the bookshelf for great ideas. Television network Nick Jr. has already premiered its new CG-animated series The Tales of Peter Rabbit on February 19; it follows the adventures of Peter Rabbit and many other of Beatrix Potter’s beloved animal characters. Other small-screen adaptions include:

Kiera Cass’s The Selection (HarperCollins, 2012) is set to premiere on the CW network. It will be directed by Mark Piznarski, written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and will star Yael Grobglas (America Singer), Peta Sergeant (Commander Gaia Woods), and Sean Patrick Thomas (Sylvan Santos).

Lauren Oliver’s Delirum (HarperCollins, 2011) will debut on Fox. It will be written by Karyn Usher and produced by Karyn Usher, Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Paul Mazur, and Mitchell Kaplan at 20th Television. It wills tar Emma Roberts (Lena), Daren Kagasoff (Alex), and Billy Campbell (Thomas Fineman).

Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian’s Burn for Burn (S & S, 2012) will be produced by Barry Josephson Entertainment. A network has not yet been named.

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved classic Anne of Green Gables will get yet a modern-day, contemporary update with this adaptation produced by Joan Lambur at Breakthrough Entertainment. A network has not yet been named.