5. A Wrinkle In Time - Madeline L'Engle
If any book on this list has the biggest nostalgia potential, it's definitely this one. After more than 40 rejections, A Wrinkle in Time was finally published in 1962 and has remained in print for the past fifty-odd years, garnering numerous awards and accolades. But you don't need to know that, because you've probably read this book. If you haven't, I dare you to read it and
not immediately love it (though if you don't love it, don't tell me, because I don't want to live in a world where this book isn't universally cherished). Disney tapped into this nostalgia mine with a 2003 TV movie. TV movies are an even bigger kiss of death for books than miniseries, right up there with direct to video releases. Despite this I (somewhat naively) had high hopes for it, only to be so disappointed that I stopped watching halfway through. One of the reasons so many publishers rejected L'Engle's novel was that they couldn't decide whether it was a book for children or adults. Sure there's a science fiction rescue story, and fantastic planets and alien beings, but there's also some heavy material in there on quantum physics, the dangers of conformity, and the nature of evil. Who do you market that to? The Disney TV movie, surprise surprise, eschewed everything that made the story intelligent and decided to give it that gaudy, patronizing "It's for kids!" treatment, in tone and in visuals. This wasn't helped by the mediocre special effects, either. How gullible do you think we are, Disney? Unfortunately, Disney may now own the movie rights and so who knows when someone else will have a chance to give the book a proper treatment.