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.

Photo by Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment

A Kickboxing, Bloodthirsty Bella Guards her Newborn as Fans Drink Up the Final “Twilight” Movie

Immortality becomes Bella. After moping and mewing throughout the first four film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” paranormal romance series (Little, Brown), the heroine takes charge in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn‒Part 2.

Kristen Stewart comes to life—so to speak—in this film, whether she is on the hunt for fresh animal blood or taking down a man twice her size. The actress invigorates the series with her performance as one of the undead.

Now that Bella has turned into a vampire—a transformation completed at the conclusion of Breaking Dawn‒Part 1—she fends for herself. She is no longer as reliant on Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his large family to protect her from werewolves, avenging vampires, and other threats.

Bella may not be Katniss Everdeen, but she’s no slouch, either. She’s a team player and a force to be reckoned with. The physicality in the fight scenes reveals a loosened-up Stewart, a change for the better. Now, Bella appears more at home arm wrestling, kickboxing, or defending her loved ones than she does staring longingly at Edward. This new boost of confidence assuages one of the chief complaints of both the “Twilight” books and movies: that she has been too passive, too willing to transform herself in order to get a guy—in this case a 110-year-old vampire.

Photo by Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment

The film begins two days after Bella has given birth to a half-mortal, half-vampire baby, Renesmee (yes, the name’s a mouthful). While adjusting to motherhood, Bella takes her own baby steps getting used to her recent incarnation as a “newborn”—a greenhorn vampire. We see her new instincts in action as she embarks on her first hunt, attacks a mountain lion, and tries to control her thirst for blood as she gets used to her inhuman strength.

The greatest danger Bella and her brethren face is the draconian (some might say fascist) Volturi, the policing body of vampires who fiercely guard vampires’ anonymity in order to keep humans ignorant of their existence.

They have heard a rumor that Renesmee is an “immortal,” a chaos-creating, unrestrained child blood sucker. Renesmee, however, is no such thing; she’s just an obedient daughter who grows by leaps and bounds by the week. Trying to protect her, Edward’s coven seeks out allies around the world—Egypt, Russia, Ireland—to avouch that his daughter with Bella poses no threat, and to ward off an otherwise certain death sentence for Renesmee and her entire clan.

Luckily for viewers, Volturi has no luck. The film climaxes with a bloodthirsty battle more violent than the norm for the series, let alone the book, with heads flying off left and right. But this mayhem won’t discourage fans from cheering (or gasping, in the case of one particular fatality).

In fact, the long fight sequence will win over those who felt the movie’s storyline was too sappy or saggy—for instance, when the pace slows down mid-film before the final showdown, which takes place high up in a snowy wilderness. Director Bill Condon cuts from one confrontation to another in a battle that involves more than two dozen characters.  Even though almost everyone is chicly dressed in black, it’s always clear who’s who, and the pace stays brisk without shifting into overdrive.  The concluding chapter in the film quintet captures the excitement of Eclipse, the third, and best, “Twilight” adaptation up until now, which also foregoes dialogue for action.

Photo by Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment

The decision to accentuate action over character pays off since the dialogue is still wooden and the acting veers further into campy terrain than in the previous installments. As the head of Volturi, Michael Sheen gleefully hams it up, combining Mike Meyer’s Dr. Evil from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery with some of Dudley Moore’s braying lunacy in Arthur. In addition, two Slavic vampires speak with such thick Eastern European accents that even Bela Lugosi would advise them to tone it down.

But no one goes to these movies for the acting. The series has its own internal crucifix to ward off detractors: fans who bring the backstory and vision from Meyer’s books to these films that only suggest Bella’s internal dialogue, which drives the books’ narrative. As a reward to these followers, the finale concludes with a roll call of all the characters from the earlier films—for just one more glimpse in the darkness, before the lights come back up.

Directed by Bill Condon
115 min.
Rated PG-13 (bed sheets are crumpled; heads roll everywhere)