BOOKIT

The deal

Susan Adler, with Stun Productions, options Cara Lockwood’s “Bard Academy” young adult books, about a high school where life begins to mirror the plots of classic novels.

The players

Adler (co-producing Henry Darger biopic with Ed Zwick and Michael Besman) to produce. Lockwood is represented on literary rights by Deidre Knight at the Knight Agency and on film rights by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates. The books are published by MTV Books, which is a division of Simon & Schuster.

The back story

Here’s a reform school -- and a film option -- with a twist: When her agent asked Lockwood to think of writing a book for the lucrative young adult market, the author recalled her years as a “lit nerd” in high school, where she spent many hours reading classic novels. Then she began writing and Bard Academy was born. In this school, students with behavior problems find their lives mirroring the plots of well-known books, and teachers are inhabited by the ghosts of famous dead writers. Lockwood’s three resulting titles (“Wuthering High,” “The Scarlet Letterman” and “Moby Clique”) were hits with the young adult crowd.

“My main challenge was getting the voices of the characters right,” Lockwood said. “I didn’t want to come across like an adult trying to imitate a teenager.” Neither did Adler, a producer looking for young adult material. When her 13-year-old stepdaughter, Zoe, first told her about Lockwood’s novels, she was intrigued. When the girl offered advice about how to make an adaptation seem real to kids, she paid attention. Adler, like other producers who have been urged by their children to option material, snapped up the rights. But she took the deal one step further -- insisting that Zoe’s name also be on the contract.

“I have a new set of eyes for this project, because it’s Zoe’s world we’re talking about,” Adler said. “I’d be happy to give her development credit too but only if she earns it.” The teenager is understandably thrilled, yet also realistic. “We thought at first that this might be good for TV, but I think it works better as a movie,” she said. “And it’s also good for me to get involved at a young age, because a lot of people don’t expect kids to know how these things work.”

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josh.getlin@latimes.com