Divergent http://bit.ly/vr-divergent

The Fault in Our Stars http://bit.ly/fault-stars

If I Stay http://bit.ly/gf-stay

The Giver http://bit.ly/ll-giver

The Maze Runner http://bit.ly/jd-maze

This is Feature Shelf, a series that provides book recommedations based on theme or title suggestions. This is Episode: 34: the 2014 in the Movies edition. My name is Eli. I’m also called the supplier. Thanks for watching.

Instead of starting off the school year with a back to school edition, I thought we’d take a look at a few young adult novels whose stories have made or are making their way to the big screen in 2014.

The movie for the first book on our shelf this week released in March: Divergent by Veronica Roth. Tris lives in a dystopian Chicago where people have been divided into five factions, or groups, based on values or ways of being. Tris grows up abnegation, but after being tested, chooses to join dauntless — known for being fearless to the point of slightly crazy. She struggles to survive initiation to this new faction all while concealing a secret that could serve to destroy their society as it exists.

In June of this year, John Green’s novel, The Fault in Our Stars was released as a film.  This is a girl meets boy and they fall in love with each other kind of story, except that Hazel, said girl, has terminal cancer and has been wrapped up in that to the point where she’s not living the life she has left. That is until she meets Augustus, the aformentioned boy, and he shows her a thing or two about what it means to be alive.

Mid August: Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the first book in The Giver Quartet. In the futuristic world of The Giver, there is no pain, no war, no fear, no hate. For the most part, everyone is the same. Jonas, the protagonist, has a special power, though, that no one else has.  He’s about to turn 12, and when he does, he’ll get his assignment — what he’ll do as an adult member of the society. As with all seemingly utopian societies, there’s something darker going on behind the scenes, and that’s what Jonas will find out about.

Also in August was the adaptation of If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Mia is in a coma after having been in a car accident with her family. As the title foreshadows, she’s trying to decide whether or not she’s going to stay alive. So the entire story is told in flashback — we find out about Mia’s life and family as she is trying to make this huge decision.

The movie on our shelf this week releases in September, and that’s The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Thomas wakes up in an elevator in this place called the Glade with no memories except his name. Boys showing up in the elevator is a regular occurance, so it’s not a big deal.  But when a girl shows up in the lift the next day, a bunch of things change in the Glade, including the doors between the Glade and the maze staying open at night. This wouldn’t be a big deal, except that the maze is home to these creatures called Grievers and the grievers start picking off the boys in the glade. So naturally, they’ve got to find a way out so people stop dying.

So thats five books that make their big screen debut this  year: Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, The GIver, If I Stay an The Maze Runner. If you’ve read any of these and you see the movie, wander back here and let me know how you think the film compares to the text.

I’m going to leave you there now dear readers. For the feature shelf archives, both video and podcast, visit thebooksupplier.com/featureshelf. If you’d like to request your own, you can leave a comment on that page, or hit me up via facebook or twitter.

Until next time, I’m the supplier wishing you happy reading.  Don’t forget to be awesome.