10 Books By Asians That Should be Adapted for the Big Screen
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Last year, we had some pretty fantastic book-to-movie adaptations by Asians, starring Asian characters. Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I Loved Before stole our hearts with its swoony romance and adorable main character, Lara Jean, played by Lana Condor. And Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians left us wanting more with its Singaporean setting, diverse cast of Asian characters, and themes of diaspora.
Asia is the largest continent in the world, and as such is filled with cultural diversity! In the last few years, we’ve had some amazing books by authors who can trace their lineage to various parts of Asia. Here are a few of these books that I think will make amazing adaptations:
Set during the Kuala Lumpur riots in 1969*, The Weight Of Our Sky is a complex and thoughtful novel about racial tensions, conflict, and just general humanity. It follows teen Melati, who is plagued by a djinn that threatens to hurt her mother if she doesn’t adhere to its ritual of counting and tapping. But when racial tensions lead to a violent conflict in her home city, Mel is separated from her mother. With danger in the streets and all lines of communication down, Melati must find a way to reunite with her mother. A tense and compelling book, The Weight Of Our Sky could definitely make for a brilliant film.
Abdi Nazemian’s upcoming book is not quite a love story. It follows three different teens who have their own unique experience of the world around them. First, there is Art, the only open gay kid in his school. As the gay men around him are dying of AIDS, Art decides that he’s going to use his photographs to tell their story. Second, there’s his best friend Judy, an aspiring fashion designer who admires her uncle, a gay man with AIDS. Lastly, there’s Reza, an Iranian boy who has just moved to America. He knows that he is gay but he is terrified of what that means, when all he sees is media images of men dying of AIDS.
As their lives converge, their friendships are tested, and their worlds slowly begin to change. The world definitely needs a movie like this—an honest and beautiful story about people who have been deeply affected by the AIDS crisis.
Zayneb just got suspended from school because of a misunderstanding with her Islamophobic teacher. Adam just dropped out of university because of his MS diagnosis. As the two of them travel to Doha—Zayneb to visit her aunt, Adam to see his family—their paths cross. Love From A To Z is an amazing love story about two Muslims from two very different backgrounds, with two very different experiences of the world. A movie adaptation of this book would not only be absolutely adorable, but it also be timely in the way that it tackles Islamophobia head-on.
The Serpent’s Secret would honestly make a hilarious and fun fantasy movie. The book follows Kiranmala, who has been told by her parents that she is an Indian princess. But she only believes them when she comes home on her 12th birthday to find her parents missing and a rakkosh demon in her house. Then, two Indian princes in winged horses whisk her away to another dimension filled with magic, where she has to defeat her evil Serpent King father and rescue her parents!
The Weight Of Our Sky
Like A Love Story
The Serpent’s Secret
