50 YA Books We Want Adapted to the Big or Small Screen

Cover to The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. Image via Speak Books.

30. Shades of London

Although this series hasn’t quite come to an end yet — an untitled fourth book currently has a release date of 2018 on Goodreads — with three books already out, it seems like the time could be right to start adapting Maureen Johnson’s Shades of London series to the big screen or even to the smaller screen. We’re not really picky about what we get. All we know is that we would not say no to it, with all the usual caveats about a well-cast and well-written series.

But hey, it’s a ghost story in London! The city lends itself so well to that sort of thing. We’re pretty sure it’s because of the fog.

Our heroine, debuting in The Name of the Star, is Aurora Deveaux, who goes by Rory despite having a perfectly dramatic name right there for her using. Although she’s from Louisiana originally, she’s moved to London to kick off her time at a boarding school. Unfortunately, she’s arrived at just the wrong time, because a Jack the Ripper copycat has started killing, and she can see him.

She’s the only one who can see him, and therein lies the problem. Time to start putting that gift to use.

Since three books already exist, there’s a lot of material to start from, but as of this writing, it doesn’t appear to have been optioned.