Answering Readers’ Questions

Sometimes we get interesting emails or comments here at Teen Lit Rocks — mostly asking us questions about page-to-screen YA adaptations, so we’ve decided to answer a few readers’ questions.

1. Are you really a movie critic?

Yes. And I’m also a professional book reviewer and entertainment writer. That’s why I’m kind of lazy about writing a ton of reviews here, because I have to write so many reviews and stories each week for various outlets.

2. Why would they change the cast of IF I STAY for WHERE SHE WENT?

Clarification is obviously needed about this: Readers keep landing on this old Casting Call of IF I STAY and WHERE SHE WENT that my Selective Collective friends and I published two-and-a-half years ago. They think I’m writing about the casting for an upcoming possible adaptation of WHERE SHE WENT, but that’s not the case at all. We wrote the post long before the IF I STAY starring Chloe Moretz and Jamie Blackley was cast, so obviously it was all just “dream casting” and speculation.

Here’s what I know — directly from Gayle Forman, whom I interviewed for THE IF LIST, a site where readers can dream cast their favorite books. IF I STAY “made seven times our production budget. More than a moderate success! There is talk. WHERE SHE WENT takes place three years after the events of IF I STAY and Mia in particular is older, so I’m not worried about a bit of time passing.”

3. Is ELEANOR & PARK the movie actually getting made?

We hope so! Rainbow Rowell has said she’s finished with the screenplay and is waiting for the next step. Her exact words to TIME last month: “I have finished a first draft, and DreamWorks is talking to a possible director.” She is uncompromising about the need for Park to be Asian and Eleanor to be a big girl (and after Kaye Toal’s BuzzFeed article, how could Eleanor NOT be fat, even if it’s only by Hollywood standards?).

4. Are Stephanie Perkins’ books being made into a movie?

We dream cast ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS a couple of years ago, but we haven’t heard of a movie getting made — but we really hope some studio will bring ANNA and LOLA and ISLA to life.

If you have any other adaptation questions, or general questions for us, feel free to ask away in the comments.

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