A Look at Tween Best-Selling Series
Posted by bob in News on August 7th, 2008
With all the hoopla over last Saturday’s release of Stephenie Meyer’s concluding novel in the Twilight quartet, Main Street’s Amanda Beals took a look at the best selling series for tweens and teens. Not surprisingly, most of them are within the genre including:
The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy) – Jonathan Stroud, Nathaniel, a 12 year old magician conjures a 14th level dijini (much like a genie), Bartimaeus. This unlikely duo come into possession of the priceless amulet of Samarkand and chaos ensues. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus have taken more than the spirit world by storm; their first movie is set for 2009.
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis, have sold 100 million copies and been in continuous print since 1955. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien belonged to a writer’s peer group, the Inklings, and it is believed that Tolkien offered input on the chronicles. The third film in the series starts shooting next year.
Harry Potter - The success of the Harry Potter series is unparalleled. Moreover, the rags to riches story of J.K. Rowling writing Harry Potter with her newborn in a coffee shop because it was the best way to get her daughter to sleep. Her estimated fortune is 1 billion dollars. The sixth film will be out, of course, in November.
His Dark Materials Trilogy - (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass)—Philip Pullman’s trilogy, The trilogy features two children Lyra and Will as they wander through myriad universes that are replete with witches and armored polar bears. His Dark Materials Trilogy is thought to be a re-telling of Milton’s epic Paradise Lost. The film adaptation proved creatively and financially disappointing and no further chapters are planned by New Line Cinema.
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson and his Oscar winning films earned in excess of 6 billion dollars. Unfortunately, the heirs of the J.R.R. Tolkien are not enthusiastic about the films’ revenue. They have filed suit with United Artists regarding a 1969 contract signed by Tolkien giving rights to Hollywood Producer, Saul Zaentz. Regardless, the trilogyu’s prequel, The Hobbit, will spawn two films from Guillermo del Toro in the coming yers.
