A nostalgic coming-of-age tale with heart, humor, and cinematic soul. “You Keep Thinking It” is ready for the screen — a story that plays like a film in your mind.
If You Keep Thinking It were a film, it would be a nostalgic coming of-age drama in the spirit of Stand by Me or The Wonder Years — a heartfelt portrait of adolescence set against the backdrop of 1963 small-town Ontario. Michael W. Dymond’s novel is filled with the kind of visual and emotional texture that makes for a perfect silver screen adaptation: sun soaked streets, poolside afternoons, and the inner world of a boy on the edge of growing up.
The story follows 14-year-old Jake Barnes during one pivotal summer as he navigates friendship, family tension, first love, and the universal need to belong.
Told in reflective, scene-rich chapters, the book plays like a memory reel, with each moment unfolding like a short film. Dymond’s dialogue is natural and character driven, and his sense of time and place — complete with vintage slang and cultural references — would translate beautifully on screen.
Jake himself feels ready for casting, a role suited for someone like Jaeden Martell, whose thoughtful, introspective presence could carry the story’s emotional weight. His best friends Donny and Dibs provide contrast: one loud and mischievous, the other quietly struggling with his mother’s illness. Together, they form a trio that could anchor a film or limited series with charm and sincerity.
The visual opportunities are endless — long bike rides under summer skies, awkward teenage dances, and family dinners crackling with tension. The book’s period detail is rich but never overdone, and its 1960s setting brings cinematic potential in both costume and soundtrack. It’s easy to imagine the film opening with a voiceover and a shot of a boy watching the world shift around him — a classic storytelling device that this novel naturally supports.
While some of Jake’s introspective moments might need adaptation — through voiceover or visual metaphors — they are part of what makes the story so universal and relatable. A platform like Netflix, HBO, or Apple TV+ would be the ideal home, either as a two-hour feature or a six-episode limited series.
Purchase the Book Today on Amazon.
Author: Michael W. Dymond
Page Count: 526 pages
Reviewer: Sophia Rogers
