Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

Chris Colfer to release his first young-adult novel 'Struck by Lightning'.
by Stephan Lee

After the success of his best-selling middle-grade novel The Land of Stories, Glee star Chris Colfer will be publishing his first young-adult novel on Nov. 20. The upcoming novel, titled Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal, will be a book adaptation of his movie by the same name, which will be released by Tribeca Film later this year.

Struck By Lightning follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips, who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker. In addition to Colfer, the film stars Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland, and Polly Bergen.

Are you excited for Colfer’s first book for teens?

Glee's Chris Colfer's YA Novel Based on His Film Due in Nov

Glee's Chris Colfer, has a YA novel coming in Nov., based off of Struck by Lighting, the indie film he wrote and stars in.

Little Brown Books for Young Readers announced today.

The book will be released on Nov. 20. The film is also scheduled to hit theaters later this year.

The YA novel follows on the heels of Colfer's just-published children's book The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, which debuted at no. 1 on The New York Times Children's Chapter Books bestseller list.

The novel, Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal, is not a straight adaptation of the film so much as an extension of the story told in the movie.

In a release, Colfer said, "When production wrapped, I wasn’t ready to say good-bye to these characters and was thrilled when Little Brown asked me to adapt the story into a novel. I felt the best way to tell Carson’s story was through his critical eyes in a journal.

He further described the book as "a story about adolescence, told through the eyes of a teenager, for other teenagers.”

The movie is a dark comedy about Carson Phillips (Colfer), who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to help his chance of getting into Northwestern University. It received a strong reception when it debuted earlier this year at the Tribecca Film Festival.

The book will be released simultaneously in print, ebook and audio.

The film, starring Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland, and Polly Bergen, as well as Colfer, is also scheduled for release sometime at the end of the year.

Andrew Smith, Vice President and Deputy Publisher, and Alvina Ling, Executive Editorial Director, acquired the book for Little Brown. Colfer was repped by Coast to Coast, and Glenn Rigberg at Inphenate.

msjoanlucette wrote:Omg. Omg. Omg. This is really great news!!! :D
I wonder if he's recorded for the audio yet.
Man that's so so cool! His audio version of tlos was amazing so I don't doubt this version would be anything less too!!! This is really cool!! Omg... sorry I'm just really excited.

valkeakuulas wrote:I'm squealing here and that's not a pretty sight. We're really spoilt as fans and I'm afraid we'll start being overtly demending: "We want more, more, more." a'la Oliver Twist. Hopefully he will not feel stress and lose creativity or his sanity.

OK, maybe not our work horse, he probably knows where his limits go after all. And him doing the audiobook despite the last one nearly killing him. This summer brings good news to Colferites every single week!

Glorfindel wrote:

Delight wrote:

I like that the book is more of an extension of the movie instead of a mere adaptation. It sounds like it'll serve to enhance the SBL movie-watching experience (which would hopefully happen not too long after the book release) instead of diminishing or repeating it.

Delight wrote:
Ah, and with a '#1 New York Times Bestselling author' header too. Proud mama feelings out in full force.