GI Jessica signs million dollar book deal

Jessica Lynch, the former PoW whose capture and rescue from an Iraqi hospital made her a US celebrity, has signed a book deal that will put her on the way to becoming a millionaire.

I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story, co-written by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg, is scheduled to come out in mid-November with a first printing of around 500,000 copies, said publisher Alfred Knopf.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source close to the negotiations said that Lynch and Bragg will divide a $1m (€920,000) advance.

Jessica received a medical discharge last week from the Army, making her eligible to pursue book and film deals.

The 20-year-old suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries when her maintenance company was ambushed in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in March.

Her rescue on April 1 made a celebrity out of Jessica, who joined the Army to get an education and become a kindergarten teacher.

She returned home to Palestine, West Virginia, last month to a hero’s welcome after a long stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington.

Bragg, who has written several books, resigned from The New York Times in May after the newspaper suspended him over a story that carried his byline but was reported largely by a freelance journalist.