The huge response to this book/film shows that most people have no knowledge of many other far better sci fi stories. P.K. Dick’s stories reached huge popularity in movies only after he was dead.
p.s. Sci fi writers of the 1950s and 1960s were typically paid 1-2 cents a word by sci fi magazines of the time.
It’s just the current incarnation of an old story, kids read it, as it was promoted and published by Scholastic, has female protagonists, all the ingredients to be a movie hit and at least a trilogy series. Just think Harry Potter.