Filmmakers should waste no time before buying the rights to The Hummingbird’s Daughter, a magnificent novel by acclaimed Chicano author Luis Alberto Urrea. Set in revolutionary Mexico during the late 1800s, this vastly entertaining and inspirational book tells the story of Teresita, a real-life illegitimate Indian girl who became the celebrated Saint of Cabora -- a healer, a rebel, a seer and a savior.

Steeped in magical realism and filled with colorful characters, Urrea’s fictionalized version of his great aunt’s incredible journey and accomplishments could be a memorable epic film. Suspense, action, humor, passion, love and loss --everything that makes a movie worth seeing -- can be found in this powerful book recently published by Little, Brown and Company. ( Note added on June 24: "I just signed a contract for the sequel," a happy Luis Urrea told me today on the phone. "It will be called The Queen of America." Needless to say, I'll be among the first people in line to buy a copy!)       

Cold Flat Junction, by Martha Grimes (famed author of the Richard Jury detective novels), also cries out to be a movie. I would cast Dakota Fanning as Emma Graham, its plucky 12-year-old protagonist. Told from Emma’s perspective, the riveting story revolves around a young girl’s efforts to solve the mystery of another young girl’s death while dealing with a host of eccentric characters.

My husband and I read this book aloud to each other, and we found it easy to visualize its fascinating people as well as its small-town setting and the Hotel Paradise, an old-fashioned resort where Emma lives. There are opportunities here for splendid performances, eye-catching cinematography and a screenplay filled not only with intriguing dramatic situations but also a great deal of humor.

After suffering through The Perfect Man, one of the worst films of the year, I desperately yearn to see movie adaptations of The Hummingbird’s Daughter and Cold Flat Junction. After all, even a film critic is entitled to dream big dreams sometimes. Hollywood, are you listening?