It’s been a summer for taking beloved YA works from page-to-screen—from Divergent to The Fault in Our Stars—and now, author Gayle Forman is the next to see her novel—the poignant and award-winning If I Stay (Dutton, 2009)—receive a second life. The book, about a teen girl left comatose after an accident that kills her family, who must then decide whether to die or to embrace life, is an emotionally charged work that SLJ called a “brutal and beautiful... thought-provoking story” and that has resonated with young adult readers. While the chance to see her work translated to film is immensely gratifying for the author, Forman, a keynote speaker at SLJ’s virtual event SummerTeen (July 24), says that when she first started writing it—with neither a publisher or agent—the possibility of a film was “the farthest thing from my mind.” Yet the film, which was optioned before the book was published in 2009, is at last a reality and is set to release this August. The story and characters of If I Stay have long been intensely personal for Forman. Years ago, friends of hers were in an accident that killed the entire family, except for one of their children, who, like Mia, was left in a coma. Though eventually the boy did die, Forman wondered if the teen was contemplating whether to live or die. The question haunted her, and seven years later, an image of a 17-year-old cellist entered Forman’s mind: the girl who would become Mia, the dedicated classical music lover and devoted daughter and sister whom readers would come to love. The author instinctively knew that this girl was “going to answer that question, not as it pertained to the real child who died but as it pertained to her."

Foreman's book If I Stay (2009) will be released as a film starring Chloë Moritz in August 2014.

Forman’s connection to the book meant that ensuring that the film stayed true to her vision was crucial, and the author, who served as an executive producer on the film, wasn’t disappointed. Initially, film’s screenwriter suggested Chloë Moretz for the role of Mia, but the Kick-Ass film star, though immensely talented, was too young at the time. However, by the time the film entered production several years later, Moretz, now 17, was perfect for the part of Mia. Forman said that when she saw a photo the actress posted online of herself with a cello, her blond locks dyed brown, she knew she was looking at the character she had developed years ago.

“It was jarring, because she looked like the Mia in my head.”

Though fans were curious about who would play Adam, Mia’s guitar-strumming, punk rock musician boyfriend, Forman knew it would present more of a challenge. “[The actor] would have to have these sort of Adam-like qualities of being hot and swaggering and confident,” she said, “but also vulnerable, with a big, open heart, but he also had to be a musician, because the director and producers were insistent that there be no fake musicians in this movie... He had to be able to play guitar and sing.” English actor Jamie Blackley, who portrays Adam, proved to be an ideal choice. Forman knew right after she saw Blackley’s audition tape, in which the actor, clad in a t-shirt, skinny jeans, and Converse sneakers, suddenly breaks into an American accent, before starting to sing, that he was perfect for Mia’s more rebellious foil: “Oh my god, yes!” Ultimately, Forman feels that all the aspects of the film, from the music—a significant part of her book to the casting to the screenplay—captured the spirit of her novel. “[The filmmakers] really paid attention to the book. I think they all knew that the book had a really special resonance with readers.” Though she’s written several other novels, Forman has found it hard to keep away from If I Stay, eventually penning a sequel, Where She Went (Dutton, 2011), which takes place three years after the events of the first novel. She had originally assumed that the first book would be a stand alone, but “I kept waking up at four in the morning with Adam and Mia in my head, and I realized I had to finish the story.” The sequel centers more on Adam than on Mia, and Forman says that playing with perspective and looking at different angles of a single moment or event has intrigued her. “The readers, when they read both books, would get a fuller texture than either character actually had, and to me that was the challenge of [writing] two books.” The author has touched upon raw emotions and challenging situations in her works, and she has no plans to shy away from difficult topics in the future. Her upcoming work, I Was Here (Viking), set to publish next year and inspired by an article Forman wrote for Cosmopolitan in 2008 on suicide, deals with a girl whose best friend has taken her own life. In untangling what went wrong, the protagonist comes to realize that an online suicide support group figured largely in her friend’s suicide plans.

Sequel to Just One Day titled Just One Year.

Her readers have been crucial to her in the writing process, and getting the film right has been as much for them as for herself. “The fans have been so stalwart, so patient about all of this.” Her novels Just One Day and Just One Year (both Dutton, 2013), books that also played with perspective, Forman became keenly aware of the significance of her readers’ input. In Just One Day, Allyson, a sheltered teen, throws caution to the wind when she meets an attractive, free-spirited boy, Willem, and spends a day—and night—with him, only to find herself abandoned by him in the morning. The book tracks the following year as Allyson attempts to find herself—and Willem—while its follow up, Just One Year, answers the question of what Willem was doing in the interim. However, there is no reunion of the two star-crossed lovers in Just One Year, something that disappointed readers, who felt that the book’s cover, depicting a passionate kiss, didn’t quite deliver what it had promised. Forman described her interactions with bloggers and other fans whom she deeply respects, saying she told them that in writing the books, “I set the table for you, I laid out all the china, I put out all the food for you, and now you’re going to close the book and gorge.” Forman said her fans contradicted her, saying, “No, you invited us into the kitchen while you were cooking and let us smell all the nice smells, and then you didn’t let us eat.” In response, Forman published Just One Night (Viking, 2014), an e-novella that was released this past May that finally described the reunion between the two young lovers. “My readers were right,” she said. “I’m glad I listened to them.” Forman hopes to both reward her devoted fans and gain new ones with the release of the film this summer. “It feels a little bit like winning the lottery. It’s wonderful to have it be reaching people all over again.”

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Check out Gayle Foreman and other YA authors in the upcoming July 24 SLJ SummerTeen virtual online event, register at: http://slj.com/summerteen/. (For those unable to watch and participate on July 24, the event will be in our archives.)

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