Canadian actress and author Asha Bromfield will adapt her debut YA novel, Hurricane Summer, into a feature film.

Bromfield, best known for her role as Melody Jones, drummer of Josie and the Pussycats in the television show Riverdale, is set to write the screenplay, produce and star in the adaptation.

Toronto-based production company Neshama Entertainment will produce the film, which will share the same name as the novel. MarVista Entertainment will distribute the film globally.

Hurricane Summer is a coming-of-age story that follows Tilla, a teenager sent to spend the summer with her estranged father in Jamaica. During her tumultuous visit, she discovers both weakness and strength in herself and in her father.

Bromfield, who grew up in Toronto, spent her summers in Jamaica, where her parents are from and drew on those experiences for inspiration.

“I’m just so excited that people are finally going to be able to get to know the Jamaica that I got to know growing up. I think it’s an island that has so many elements of magical surrealism and I’m just so excited to showcase that with this movie,” said the actress in a recent interview.

Bromfield began pitching her novel Hurricane Summer as a film over a year ago.

“My goal was for [Hurricane Summer] to be a movie. Even before it was a book, I started writing it as a script. To me, the story always felt cinematic,” she said.

Producers Arnie Zipursky, Hannah Pillemer and Lauren MacKinlay will work alongside Bromfield for Neshama Entertainment.

“When I connected with Hannah and Lauren, it was the first time that I felt like people really understood my vision and were just as excited about the message of the book and the journey into womanhood that is so universal,” said Bromfield.

Neshama Entertainment’s current projects include Christmas Italiano, Finding A Killer and the Hallmark Channel original drama series The Way Home.

Filming on Hurricane Summer has yet to begin.

Bromfield is currently working on her second novel, Songs of Irie, which follows two girls living on different sides of the track in Jamaica during the civil war of the 1970s. The book will explore class, privilege, colourism and the origins of reggae music. It is set for release in fall 2023.