Six Books I Love That Deserve Their Own Movies/Shows

I'll admit that I read a lot more books when I was in grade school than I do now as an adult, but that doesn't change the fact that books made a big impact on me and helped shape me as the person I am today. Books taught me lessons, shaped my knowledge of the English language, and helped my imagination expand and flourish, which really helps me, now that I'm currently in the process of writing my own books. But a lot of people are influenced by other means that are just as valuable in today's society: television. Some people may say it kills your brain cells, but depending on the content, it can really help shape young minds and/or entertain for hours.

Other people may say that books should never be tampered with, as making them into movies sullies them (Inkheart is a tragic example of this) and that there is no way you can get better than the source material, but I believe that novels-made-movies such as the Harry Potter franchise, The Lovely Bones, Speak, The Hunger Games, A Song of Ice and Fire, Life of Pi, and The Fault in 

Our Stars proves this wrong. It can be done, and it can be done right. You just need to approach it the right way (know whether the book is better suited as a movie or series) and know when to cut/and or change the source material (which many purists will get pissy about, but it does need to be done at times in order to fit on the TV screen).

So today I will be listing some of the novels I grew up with and/or are still enjoying to this day that need a screened adaptation because, damn you, we need to give these authors our money!

1:
The May Bird Series
By Jodi Lynn Anderson
May Bird and the After After was a book that I picked up from the middle school library when I needed to do a book report. I thought that the cover looked interesting enough, so I grabbed it and prepared myself for what had looked like a pretty lengthy read but turned into something that I zipped through in just a couple of days.
May Bird is an interesting tale featuring a very relatable girl from my birth state of West Virginia going on all sorts of wacky and sometimes even scary adventures in a world full of specters. What makes this series great is the cast full of diverse and fun characters, including our main character, who, as a teen and even now as an adult, I relate greatly to. May is a bit of an outcast in her home town and doesn't know how to talk to other people very well, but she has a grand imagination and creates her own adventures even in the most mundane of places, like a neighborhood picnic.
This series has just the right amount of adventure and craziness to warrant a fun TV show, preferably a cartoon in which each episode will take her on one of her many misadventures with the goal to get home and eventually save the Ever After.
It's a great read, even for an older audience, and if you haven't, go read it now! We need TV producers to see this!!

2:

The Lunar Chronicle Series

By Marissa Meyer

I just love fairy tales with twists, and Ms. Meyer delivers in this series dedicated to twisting Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White into one comprehensible sci-fi story about cyborgs, mutant wolf armies, humans living on the moon with special powers, and a race to find the cure for a deadly disease.

Now typically this wouldn't be my type of content. "Mutant wolf armies? Super-powered moon people? No thank you!" But the Lunar Chronicles manages to put all of these elements, including some of the more insane-sounding ones, into an epic tale with a lot of heart. It's not just about Cyborg Cinderella, Hover-Craft Pilot Red Riding Hood, and a Super-Hacker Rapunzel (though those are a big part of it)- it's also about prejudice and oppressive governments. It's about perseverance, and a little bit of steamy romance, too, for those of you who are into that (Scarlet and Wolf 4 life).

Pair this with some of the obvious anime influences that Meyer obviously has and you have me hooked. These books could lend themselves really well to either an animated TV series (preferably with a more more mature tone and animation style similar to that of Avatar or Korra) or as a movie franchise. Either way, I'd watch the hell out of it.

3:
The Music of Dolphins and/or Phoenix Rising
By Karen Hesse
 I actually picked up The Music of Dolphins in elementary school from a book fair because at the time, dolphins were my favorite animal (and are, second only to wolves). And my mom is a teacher, so when I was in middle school, she got Phoenix Rising from one of her coworkers and gave it to me to read. I didn't even realize that they were by the same author until a year or two ago, but good God, did I love the hell out of both of them.
Both of them have very different themes: one is about a girl raised by dolphins who is found and "rescued" by humans while the other is about a girl in a post-nuclear North America trying with all of her might not to become attached to the dying boy living in her house. But both of them are equally heart-warming and heart-breaking. I remembering being so happy yet confused as a child when I read the end of The Music of Dolphins for the first time, and how much I cried at the end of Phoenix Rising.
They are both highly emotional tales and would adapt very well to a movie format. The Music of Dolphins would probably work best in a sort of Life of Pi format, whereas Phoenix Rising would be best taken in a direction similar to that of The Lovely Bones, but I know they would both do wonders to the audience on screen.

4:

Junie B. Jones Series

By Barbara Park

This would definitely be less of serious series and more of a cartoony TV show for kids, but I absolutely adored Junie B. Jones as a kid; if fact, these books are what got me into reading in the first place. They're fairly short, and there are so many of them, that I remember I would come home from the library with a new book from the series every day as a kid. Junie B. and all of her antics just brought so much joy to my eight-year-old heart that it'd be a shame if the books died out and there weren't any kids that would be able to enjoy the series in today's world. Hell, it doesn't have to be a TV show, it could be a series of small movies, too, like the Air Buddies franchise or the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. 

5:
Warriors Series
By Erin Hunter
I haven't been really up-to-date on the Warriors series, but God knows I need to get back into it. Warriors was one of those books that, like Junie B. Jones, I came home with a new one every week. Unlike Junie B. Jones, however, Warriors was something that appealed more to my middle-and-high school selves, as it has a continuous story-line and much more mature themes. Yes, dear reader, this book series about cats is actually kind of mature. It's about warring clans, prophecies, and even a little bit of bigotry as a complete outsider (a "kittypet," as house cats are referred to) named Rusty finds his place among the Thunder Clan with his new name, Firepaw, and eventually becomes a strong and powerful leader, Firestar. There's lots of challenges to face, lands to cross, and deaths to happen, and it's up to the protagonist of each new volume to overcome them all.
Which is exactly why Warriors would make a fantastic Madoka Magica of the western world. Draw people in with the cute animated cats and slowly reveal the ill nature of the author and her intentions to kill off all of your favorite felines but at the same time unravel an action-packed adventure story.
... OK, it sounds kind of dumb, I know. But, trust me, when you ignore the whole "they're cats" part, it is awesome!

6:

Inkheart series

By Cornelia Funke

Because everyone deserves a second chance.

Tone down the bull. Actually take some scenes from the book. It's OK to add some of your own stuff, guys, but keep it reasonable, for Pete's sake.

Inkheart was something I treasured, and it doesn't deserve to be stomped on. It's a story that can be easily adapted to a movie, maybe even a TV show, if done correctly.

So, try, try again! There's no way you could screw it up a second time, right?

...

Right???

So there's just a short list of books that I think could totally have their own movies or TV shows (or a second chance at one). This is all just my opinion, though, so feel free to comment down below if you agree or disagree with me on certain things, or if I failed to list a book that you want to see make it to the big screen. Thanks for reading! Bye!! :D