4 Diverse Books Soon to Become Diverse Movies

August 8 2018
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For many years, there have been few stories (books, TV, and movies) told from the perspective of minorities in the entertainment industry. Hollywood has long been known to cast white actors in roles that were intended for ethnically diverse characters. Emma Stone was cast for a character who was meant to be partially Chinese in Aloha. Jake Gyllenhaal was cast over an Iranian actor to play the prince in Prince of PersiaScarlett Johansson was cast to play a lead role as a Japanese character in Ghost in the Shell. There are many other instances of Hollywood whitewashing too and many controversies that arose as a result.   

The most recent Star Wars movie cast more minority actors, and the internet lost its mind, causing #BoycottStarWarsVII to trend on Twitter.

Spoiler alert: the boycott didn’t work and people who understand the value of having diverse casts fought back.

The tide is starting to turn, actors in Hollywood are speaking out more, and the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite has made the industry think twice about casting white leads in roles where the character is Asian, African, etc. The entertainment industry as a whole still has a long way to go to highlight more diverse stories. 

But, we’re excited to share with you some books written by diverse authors that are being adapted to the screen and feature diverse casts as well! Because the world isn’t just filled with white people, and it’s about time that the entertainment industry reflects that. 

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before
by Jenny Han

Talk about a nightmare…Lara Jean wrote love letters to all the boys she had a crush on, sealed them up, and tucked them away in her closet. Kind of like diary entries that nobody is EVER supposed to see. She assumes that her dad accidentally donates the box where she had stashed the letters to Goodwill. Someone stamped them and mailed them, and now the letters are out in the world! Get the book to find out how this embarrassing nightmare ends. Then watch the movie (starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, and Janel Parrish) when it comes to Netflix on August 17th!

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To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is now a major motion picture streaming on Netflix!
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)

Lara Jean’s love life gets complicated in this New York Times bestselling “lovely, lighthearted romance” (School Library Journal) from the bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?

Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

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Crazy Rich Asians (Media Tie-In Edition)
by Kevin Kwan

Rachel Chu decides to spend the summer with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, in Singapore at his family’s home. Little does she know, Nick is actually the country’s most eligible bachelor and he’s stupid rich, like private planes and palatial mansions rich. Once they step off the plane, the target is fixed on Rachel’s back—all the women wish they could have Nick, and his family thinks she’s just in it for the $$$$$.

The movie, starring Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, and Henry Golding, is coming to the big screen on August 15th!

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Crazy Rich Asians (Media Tie-In Edition)
Kevin Kwan

Rachel Chu decides to spend the summer with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, in Singapore at his family’s home. Little does she know, Nick is actually the country’s most eligible bachelor and he’s stupid rich, like private planes and palatial mansions rich. Once they step off the plane, the target is fixed on Rachel’s back—all the women wish they could have Nick, and his family thinks she’s just in it for the $$$$$. The movie, starring Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, and Henry Golding, is coming to the big screen on August 15th!

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The Hate U Give (Media Tie-in Edition)
by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is stuck between two worlds: her poor neighborhood and her fancy prep school. Everything changes when Starr witnesses the deadly shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed, and his name becomes splashed across the national headlines. Some begin to drag his name through the mud because he was black and from a poor neighborhood. Starr is the only one who knows what really happened, but she is being threatened to keep quiet. The #BlackLivesMatter messaging is very apparent in this story; to find out the outcome you have to read the book.

The movie, starring Amandla Stenberg, Anthony Mackie, and K.J. Apa, hits theaters on October 19th.

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The Hate U Give (Media Tie-in Edition)
Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is stuck between two worlds: her poor neighborhood and her fancy prep school. Everything changes when Starr witnesses the deadly shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed, and his name becomes splashed across the national headlines. Some begin to drag his name through the mud because he was black and from a poor neighborhood. Starr is the only one who knows what really happened, but she is being threatened to keep quiet. The #BlackLivesMatter messaging is very apparent in this story; to find out the outcome you have to read the book. The movie, starring Amandla Stenberg, Anthony Mackie, and K.J. Apa, hits theaters on October 19th.

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MENTIONED IN:

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Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds

This book is told in a crazy, unique way: the plot takes place over the course of sixty potent seconds—the time it takes Will to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the person who just killed his brother, Shawn. He gets on an elevator, with a hidden gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans—his brother’s gun. As he rides the long way down, the elevator makes a stop at every floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother’s life steps on. Each person shares a piece of his brother’s story. Will begins to realize that maybe he doesn’t really know what happened. How does he decide what he will do once he gets to the ground floor?

The movie hasn’t been made yet. Universal optioned the rights and Michael De Luca and John Legend have signed on to produce the film.

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Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds

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