Elsie Chapman’s YA Fantasy Novel Caster Is Going to Be a Movie

Elsie Chapman’s 2019 YA fantasy novel, Caster, is going to be a movie! Variety reports that Paramount Pictures is developing the adaptation, with Star Trek: Picard’s Akiva Goldsman producing.

“Caster is a wildly imaginative vision of an Earth infused with magic, but with a very grounded and contemporary heroine at its core,” Goldsman said in a statement, according to the publication. “I’m so excited to help bring Aza and her world to life alongside my terrific partners at Josephson, Scholastic Entertainment and Paramount.”

According to Variety, other producers include Greg Lessans, Scholastic Entertainment President Iole Lucchese, Caitlin Friedman, Barry Josephson, and D. Matt Geller.

Here’s the novel’s official synopsis, from Scholastic:

If the magic doesn’t kill her, the truth just might.

Aza Wu knows that real magic is dangerous and illegal. After all, casting killed her sister, Shire. As with all magic, everything comes at a price. For Aza, it feels like everything in her life has some kind of cost attached to it. Her sister had been casting for money to pay off Saint Willow, the gang leader that oversees her sector of Lotusland. If you want to operate a business there, you have to pay your tribute. And now with Shire dead, Aza must step in to save the legacy of Wu Teas, the teahouse that has been in her family for centuries.

When Aza comes across a secret invitation, she decides she doesn’t have much else to lose. She quickly realizes that she’s entered herself into an underground casting tournament, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Real magic, real consequences. As she competes, Aza fights for her life against some very strong and devious competitors.

When the facts about Shire’s death don’t add up, the police start to investigate. When the tributes to Saint Willow aren’t paid, the gang comes to collect. When Aza is caught sneaking around with fresh casting wounds, her parents are alarmed. As Aza’s dangerous web of lies continues to grow, she is caught between trying to find a way out and trapping herself permanently.