Hilde Lysiak, the multitalented nine-year-old whose Orange Street News outlet broke the news of a suspected murder in Pennsylvania, is adding author to her CV.
Hilde, a multimedia news reporter, is writing a series of books fictionalising her adventures, according to Deadline. The first – Hilde Cracks the Case: Hero Dog! – will be published in September 2017. Bear on the Loose!, UFO Spotted! and Fire! Fire! will follow in quick succession. The film rights for all four books, which are owned by the US childrens’ publisher Scholastic, are to be put up for sale.
The books, aimed at readers aged six to eight and co-written by Hilde’s news reporter father Matthew Lysiak, will feature Hilde alongside her older sister, Izzy, as her photographer. The pair ride around their neighbourhood on their bikes reporting on local events, such a dog that foils a robbery.
Hilde was criticised by local residents after being the first to report on a suspected murder in her hometown of Selinsgrove. Some, including the town’s former mayor, Sean Christine, worried about the “sensationalist” nature of her reporting. Others said that a girl of her age should be “playing with dolls” and “having tea parties” rather than reporting on the news.
Writing for the Guardian, Hilde defended her journalistic practice, called out professional journalists for not being quicker off the mark and argued that her age shouldn’t be a basis for criticism. “I don’t think people should be able to decide for me who I should be and what I should be doing,” she wrote. “I never began my newspaper so that people would think I was cute. I started the Orange Street News to give people the information they need to know.”
- This article was amended on Wednesday 6 July 2016. The headline of this article inferred film rights to Hilde Lysiak’s books had already been sold. In fact, they are to be offered for sale. We also suggested that Hilde was confirmed as a screenwriter on the film, this is not the case. Both of these errors have been corrected.
