Netflix Is Finally Making One Of The Century's Best YA Novels Into A TV Series

Published Nov 6, 2026, 1:45 PM EST

Memory Ngulube joined Screen Rant in April 2024 as part of the Movies and TV team. Since then, she has written for the Perennials and Streaming team, covering a wide range of topics from new releases to old movies and TV shows. Memory is currently a Classic TV writer. 

Before joining Screen Rant, Memory was a freelance copywriter who specialized in email marketing and social media management. While she enjoyed her job, her true passion was always movies and TV.

When she isn’t writing for Screen Rant, Memory can be found reading, baking (which is one of her passions), or watching her favorite K-drama.

Over the years, Netflix has been investing more and more in TV adaptations of beloved novels. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, You, and Virgin River are some of the best book-to-screen adaptations done right, so it's no wonderone of the streamer’s most exciting upcoming TV shows has a literary counterpart. Usually, bringing a beloved book to the small screen is a challenge, since so many things can go wrong.

However, it also presents an opportunity to introduce its characters to an entirely new audience while giving longtime readers the chance to see a story they love come to life. Recently, Netflix announced it will adapt Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep into a series. The popular YA novel centers on Lee Fiora, a 14-year-old, middle-class girl from Indiana who receives a scholarship to attend Ault, an elite boarding school in Massachusetts.

Released in 2005, Prep has spent years earning its reputation as one of the finest YA books of the 21st century, and it is finally getting the television adaptation it deserves. With Nicole Taylor and Will Ferrell attached, the upcoming YA series may prove why Netflix is ahead in the streaming wars.

Netflix's Prep Is One Of Its Most Exciting Upcoming TV Shows

So far, Netflix has had a great 2026 regarding its TV shows, with One Piece season 2, The Gentlemen season 2, and The Diplomat season 4 being smashing successes for the streaming giant. Fortunately, the streamer has more to offer before the year ends, with the third and final season of The Empress, The Hunting Wives season 2, and The Altruists set to join Netflix’s library in the last quarter of 2026.

While these new and returning additions to the streaming platform are exciting, the TV adaptation of Prep will likely become one of Netflix's most popular shows. The streamer has an excellent track record adapting coming-of-age stories, as proven by shows like Sex Education, My Life with the Walter Boys, and Heartstopper.

Prep, however, is in a league of its own. Sittenfeld’s bestselling novel did a remarkable job of portraying the teenage experience through Lee. If the streamer captures the protagonist's insecurities, teenage angst, and growth, then Netflix will have a big hit.

Netflix has also brought in Nicole Taylor to write and serve as showrunner for Prep. Taylor previously worked on the streamer's acclaimed adaptation of One Day and also earned recognition for the BBC drama, Three Girls. She understands intimate character experiences, which will be essential to adapting the popular YA novel. Sittenfeld will also serve as an executive producer on the show, which is encouraging for viewers who want the television adaptation to retain the qualities that made the original novel so beloved.

Prep Has Been Prepping Its TV Debut For 20 Years

It’s not uncommon for a streaming platform, network, or film studio to commission a novel adaptation only to drop it later, and Prep has had an unusually long journey to the screen. The novel was published in 2005, and HBO previously attempted to develop a television adaptation around 2016 with Colleen McGuinness (30 Rock) and Carolyn Strauss (Game of Thrones) attached to the project. However, the adaptation never progressed beyond development.

Netflix has now given the story a straight-to-series order, meaning it will not have to go through the traditional process of securing a separate pilot before receiving a series commitment. Taylor revealed that she had wanted to adapt the book for 20 years after finding so much of herself reflected in its pages. The fact that it's been more than two decades since Prep was published and that there’s still a large fanbase interested in Lee’s story is a testament to how influential Sittenfeld’s novel was.

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Netflix has yet to announce when Prep will be released or who will star in it, but the details the streamer has revealed are promising, especially since the writers' room will assemble in January 2027.