5. Ally Condie
Starting the list off at number five is Ally Condie and her Matched trilogy. The series follows protagonist Cassia Reyes in a dystopian future where people are paired up for marriage by Society. Love and attraction don’t play a part in the matching of the newly turned seventeen year olds, but rather the pairing is strictly based on science and algorithms. When Cassia is paired up with her childhood best friend, Xander Carrow, her future looks bright, until she begins to fall in love with Ky Markham, an outcast amongst their society.
While it seems that all popular young adult novels these days fall under the dystopian banner, Condie’s work is both gripping and greatly refreshing. And while her book does play with the ever present teenage love triangle, hers doesn’t feel forced or generic. Cassia’s doubt, fear and uncertainty come across as genuine, and watching her discover the truth behind her society is enthralling. With engaging characters, high-tech science, and war, to boot, it only makes sense that the works of Ally Condie would translate well on screen. And it seems that Disney would agree, having bought the film rights to the trilogy. However, no production news has been released as of yet.
4. Moira Young
Coming in at number four is Moira Young and the Dust Lands trilogy. The series follows Saba, a twin to her brother Lugh, and the older sister to Emmi, in a dystopian future. The three of them live with their father in a desolate wasteland, their mother having died several years ago. One day, and early into the book, their father is brutally murder, Lugh kidnapped, and Saba left to the unforgiving wilderness with her little sister. The narrative then follows Saba, as she tries to save her brother and salvage what’s left of her family, while making new friends (and enemies) along the way.
While also in the dystopian young adult category, Young’s book offers a look into the importance of family in a way that most books of the genre don’t. While most books portray the heroine as family-loving, and willing to do anything and everything it takes to keep everyone together, Saba’s different. While she’s willing to go to extremes for her twin brother, she’s not nearly as willing to help her sister, Emmi, something that slowly changes over the course of the novel. With sand-filled wastelands, lawless criminals, a sand ship, cage fighting and a heroin that’s less than cheerful, Moira Young’s Dust Lands trilogy would make an incredible film for people of all ages to enjoy.
3. Charles de Lint
At number three on this list: the works of Charles de Lint. Known for his novels like Wolf Moon, The Blue Girl, and The Painted Boy, de Lint blends the modern world and one of fantasy together in his works. In The Blue Girl, part of the Newford series, de Lint combines a high school outcast, a lonely and dejected ghost, everyday teenage qualms and fairies together in the pages of his book. While the novel is one of fantasy, the work feels real and oddly plausible, despite the magic and otherworldly moments. And in Wolf Moon, while the setting isn’t in suburbia, but rather a land from far way and of long ago, de Lint’s characters are real and complex. His fantasy is expertly crafted and never disappoints.
With complex and original teens, sympathetic ghosts and a gripping plot, the Newford series would make a solid film franchise. By crossing the unremarkable with the fantastic, Charles de Lint creates the unforgettable, and that’s something that every filmmaker should strive to do.
2. Tamora Pierce
In second place is the ever iconic Tamora Pierce with her works from the realm of Tortall. Known for creating fast-paced books with strong female leads, Pierce’s works are set in the medieval, albeit fantasy, land of Tortall. She first introduced readers to her world with The Song Of The Lioness Quartet. The series follows Alanna, a girl who always dreamt of becoming a knight and who, in desperation, switches places with her twin brother when they’re sent away for schooling; Alanna heading to the palace for knighthood and Thom to the convent to learn sorcery.
With a cast of colourful characters, from George (the King of the Rogue, who keeps a chest full of ears) to Prince Jonathan (who admires Alanna for her brutal honesty), magic, war and an incredible world akin to that of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Pierce’s works would captivate audiences and have them lining up around the block for midnight showings.
But don’t get your hopes up just yet. Pierce has frequently rejected the idea of having film adaptations of her works. But who knows? Maybe with enough demand, fans will finally get what they’ve been asking for.
1. Kelley Armstrong
Grabbing the top spot on this list is Kelley Armstrong, with both the Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising series’. In her Darkest Powers series, Armstrong follows the story of Chloe Saunders, a young girl living in a centre for disturbed teens, who just so happens to have the power to interact with the dead. If this wasn’t bad enough for poor Chloe, the other children in the centre seem to have mysterious powers of their own. And in Armstrong’s Darkness Rising series, we follow Maya, a small town girl with a love for nature and an unusual ability to handle animals.
Known for keeping readers on the edge of their seats, Armstrong creates incredibly fun, albeit frightening plots. The protagonists are almost always female but never samey. All of her characters truly take on a life of their own within her works, a remarkable feat considering both the amount and diversity of the characters Armstrong works with. Not only are her characters so, well, real, but so is the world they live in. Much like de Lint, Armstrong takes the dull world of suburbia, mixes it up with the realm of the terrifying, and ends up with books readers can’t put down.
And not to worry; if young adult literature isn’t your thing, Armstrong has a thirteen book long Otherworld series, guaranteed to keep your eyes glued to the page. Just make sure you take the weekend off, or call in sick, before picking up one of her books, because you’re not going to want to put it down.