Wild Chicks

The Wild Chicks (Die wilden Hühner)[1] is a series of children's and youth books written by the German author Cornelia Funke.

"[5] Throughout the entire series, the Wild Chicks encounter a boys' gang called the Pygmies (die Pygmäen): their leader is the self-confident, yet good natured Fred, small but cocky Torte, tough Willi (who is physically abused by his father), and the esoteric Steve, who is seldom seen without his tarot cards.

On the author's homepage, she reveals that all Pygmies wear an earring as their trademark and have sworn to defend mankind versus "criminals, pirates, Nazis, cannibals and vicious teachers".

[6] At first, Wild Chicks and Pygmies form a boys-against-girls rivalry and play pranks on each other, but in later books, Sprotte / Fred, Melanie / Willi (latter temporarily), and Frieda / Torte become a couple.

In 2009, German author Thomas Schmid wrote the novelisation of the third Wild Chicks film, Die wilden Hühner und das Leben.

Wild Chicks was a commercial success, drawing 1.15 million visitors into the cinemas,[8] and won the "Younger Audience Award for Best Film" prize in Leeds.

[9] Paula Riemann, who portrayed Melanie, won the Undine Award (German film prize for teenage actors) for "best comedienne".