Watch for Kirkus’ in-depth columns about It Ends With Us, a theatrical film based on the Kirkus-starred 2016 novel by Colleen Hoover and starring Blake Lively (premiering Aug. 9), and The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, a Hulu film version of the 2013 novel by Edward Kelsey Moore, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Sanaa Lathan, and Uzo Aduba (premiering Aug. 23). Here are four more book-to-screen adaptations coming in August:

Aug. 1: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (series premiere, Netflix)

This series adaptation is based on the 2020 YA mystery by British author Holly Jackson, in which teenage amateur sleuth Pippa Fitz-Amobi decides to do her final senior project on the 2014 disappearance of student Andrea Bell. Pip’s childhood friend, Salil Singh, was blamed for her murder, although Andrea’s body never turned up. However, the evidence against Sal—who is found dead, apparently by his own hand—doesn’t convince the young investigator, who delves further into the case with the help of Sal’s younger brother. This six-episode series adaptation aired on the BBC in July and is now set for its American streaming debut. The story’s whodunit-as-class-project setup has an offbeat appeal, and star Emma Myers, as Pip, will be familiar to fans of the Netflix horror comedy Wednesday, in which she played the titular character’s quirky werewolf best friend.

Aug. 2: Harold and the Purple Crayon (theatrical film premiere)

Crockett Johnson’s 1955 picture book has been a mainstay of many readers’ childhoods. It tells the tale of a young boy who can conjure anything he wants by drawing it with the titular writing implement; for instance, he draws a dragon, which frightens him, so his shaking hand draws an ocean, which makes it necessary for him to draw a boat to ride in. This new film imagines Harold—the fictional, illustrated character— growing to adulthood and using his crayon to create a door into the “real world.”  He and his two animal friends, Moose and Porcupine, become flesh-and-blood human beings once they cross over, and shenanigans ensue—especially after someone else gets hold of a piece of the crayon. Zachary Levi plays grown-up Harold, and the fine comedy actors Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) and Tanya Reynolds (The Decameron) depict his pals. There are a few other promising supporting players, as well, including Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), as well as the great Alfred Molina as the narrator.

Aug. 14: Bad Monkey (series premiere, Apple TV+)

Carl Hiaasen has written more than a dozen well-received Florida-set comic thrillers for adults since 1986’s Tourist Season; a handful have received Kirkus stars, including, most recently, Razor Girl (2016). However, only one has been adapted for the screen: Strip Tease (1993), which became a theatrical film starring Demi Moore. Now this new streaming series tackles Hiaasen’s 2013 novel, which centers on the snarky Andrew Yancy, a cop who’s been suspended from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. His curiosity about a severed arm (with a raised middle finger) found off Key West leads to a complicated investigation that puts him in touch with several lively characters, as well as a monkey who allegedly appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The story also includes “a healthy dose of cleansing violence,” as Kirkus’ reviewer put it. The main draw of this new streaming series version, created and co-written by Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence, is the casting of Vince Vaughan as Yancy; he’s a reliable comic talent whose unique charm fits the role perfectly.

Aug. 23: Pachinko (Season 2 premiere, Apple TV+)

Min Jin Lee’s wonderful 2017 novel about several generations of a Korean family received a Kirkus star and was a finalist for the National Book Award. The first season of its streaming-series adaptation was released in 2022, and it made our list of that year’s best book-to-screen adaptations. The book’s chronology spans from 1910 to 1989, and it primarily focuses on Sunja, a Korean fisherman’s daughter, whose affair with a shady married fish broker results in her getting pregnant; she marries a pastor, and they move to Osaka, Japan, where they face poverty and bigotry. Co-writer and showrunner Soo Hugh (The Terror) did stunning work in the first season, and the performances by Yuh-jung Youn (Minari) and Minha Kim as the elder and younger Sunja were particularly masterful. All three return for this eight-episode second season, along with much of the cast—including Anna Sawai, who was recently nominated for an Emmy for her affecting performance in the rightfully acclaimed Hulu miniseries Shōgun.

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.