Breaking Down the Biggest Differences Between ‘My Life With the Walter Boys’ TV Show and Ali Novak’s Book

My Life With the Walter Boys is Netflix’s version of a show with a love triangle involving siblings — but how does the TV adaptation compare to the original book?

Based on Ali Novak‘s book, My Life With the Walter Boys follows recently orphaned Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez), a teenage girl from Manhattan who relocates to rural Colorado after she is taken in by the Walters, a family of seven sons and a daughter.

The basic story lines — including Jackie’s separate connections with Cole (Noah LaLonde) and Alex (Ashby Gentry) — have remained the same from book to screen. But there have been other story lines that shifted in the TV version.

Keep scrolling for the main differences that took place on the show compared to Novak’s version:

Less Members of the Walter Family

The book introduced Us to 11 Walter kids (not including Jackie). There were 10 boys and one girl that made up the fictional family while the show had 10 kids.

“The TV series takes off a little bit from the book — there are fewer boys in the family, for a start. Two of the twin sets became just one, and that’s quite a big change I think people will notice,” showrunner Melanie Halsall told Entertainment Weekly in 2023.

Netflix’s adaptation features Will (Johnny Link), twins Cole (LaLonde) and Danny (Connor Stanhope), Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis), Alex (Gentry), Isaac (Isaac Arellanes), Lee (Myles Vincent Perez), Jordan (Dean Petriw), Parker (Alix West Lefler) and Benny (Lennix James).

The Love Triangle

Jackie initially explores her feelings for Alex (in both the book and the show) while fighting her connection with Cole. But in the book, Jackie and Alex mutually decide to move on so she could find herself — and give Cole a chance.

The show is much messier with Alex becoming a real contender for Jackie’s heart two seasons in. Despite her consistently showing a stronger bond with Cole, Jackie only dated Alex (twice) on the show so far.

Pushing Alex to the Forefront

Speaking of the central characters, Alex is invested in more on the show. He originally wasn’t as much of a main player in the book, which presented Jackie and Cole as the core characters in that story. Netflix’s My Life With the Walter Boys changed Alex enough to make him someone viewers would root for more.

Spending More Time With the Adults

Books that get turned into TV shows require some changes — including more characters and larger character arcs. Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty) and George Walter (Marc Blucas) played much smaller roles in Novak’s book before being enhanced in the show with a story line involving financial issues — and even a possible death.

New Characters and Story Lines

In addition to Katherine and George’s stories, My Life With the Walter Boys introduced new faces at Jackie’s high school to allow the rest of the Walter family more people to interact with throughout the seasons.