IP Picks🔎: The Real 'Swiss Family Robinson' is Creepier Than You Think
âž• An eclectic trio of YA novels offer something for everyone
Welcome to The Optionist. Thanks for reading along.
Before I dive into this week’s picks, I want to share something that stuck to me from Elaine Low's excellent and super informative series on what the various studios and streamers are looking to buy right now. (So far, she’s tackled Netflix, Amazon, Disney/Hulu/FX/ABC and Apple.)
One thing that has struck me is that across the board buyers are looking for YA. Longtime readers know that I've been on the YA bus forever, both professionally and personally. But for the last few years, the genre has been a tougher sell. Everything is cyclical, of course. Right now, YA is on the comeback.
It never should have gone away. YA is one of the more flexible and expansive categories — in terms of both content and audience. You see it in buyers' wish lists. Some want "elevated CW" shows. Some want "harder, sexier" YA. Some want "zeitgeist YA." There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to explain the genre’s appeal. A friend once described another business to me as being dominated by "potentiality junkies." Which is to say, people hooked on imagining what a new hire, book, movie or project could become.
I've always liked that phrase "potentiality junkies" and think it is widely applicable, especially in Hollywood, which is full of them. But you may be wondering how that translates to the YA market. Well, YA stories are essentially about people at the beginning of something. No matter how their stories end, readers walk away with the understanding that there’s a future for these characters. They may even be able to write the next chapter of these stories in their heads (or as fanfic or home-made videos). My sense of what makes something YA has more to do with an attitude — a way of seeing the world — rather than just a character’s age or the type of storyline. YA appeals to the potentiality junkie in all of us.
Anyway, the big picture takeaway from the series for me is the revival of interest in YA, which brings me to this week's line up ...
This week’s picks include an eclectic trio of YA stories, plus a gripping, real-life shipwreck tale.
The full lineup:
A YA murder mystery about a boarding school student whose roommate is murdered, leading her to form an unlikely partnership with her rival to hunt for the killer
A sci-fi/horror story about 13 random strangers who attempt to ascend a mysterious tower while facing video game-like challenges on each level
A YA drama centered on a teen girl who has to learn how to live again after the death of the love of her life
A YA horror thriller about a teen girl whose ghost appears in a bloody prom dress to tell her that she has a week to prevent her own murder at the upcoming big dance
An action-adventure tale from the 1800s about a real Swiss Family Robinson
