Lincoln Peirce Visits Pittsburgh

by Marcy Collier

My 9-year-old son loves to read. His latest obsession is with the Big Nate books by author/cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. My son will not leave the house without one of these books in hand. Peirce (pronounced “purse”) appeared as a speaker in the Black, White and Read All Over series yesterday at the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library Lecture hall.

Peirce says he’s been doodling since the third grade. As a child, he was inspired by the works of Charles Shultz. As a kid, Peirce constantly read comic strips, comic books and regular books. He studied the comics and copied them. With practice he got better. As an adult, he says his drawing is still improving. Pierce shared some of his earliest sketches with the audience from his elementary school years.

He told the crowd that to be a good cartoonist, you must practice both your writing and your handwriting. You have to be able to tell a good story to your readers. When he works on a book, the words always come before the pictures.

Peirce began his career as a cartoonist over 20 years ago. His first comic that was published was called “Neighborhood Comix.” His Big Nate character was developed from this series. His syndicated comic strip appears in over 200 newspapers.

The fourth book in the series, “Big Nate Goes for Broke” will be released in March of this year. Peirce has already done the cover art and title of book five, “Big Nate Flips Out.”

As Peirce talked with the audience and took questions from the kids, he doodled sketches on the Elmo. It was cool to see his passion pour through while he sketched and to also watch the excitement on my son’s face and the other kids around us as they listened to Peirce’s stories.

I want to thank Lincoln Peirce for visiting Pittsburgh and for the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures (Black, White and Read All Over series) for bringing such great authors to my hometown. For more information go to: http://www.pittsburghlectures.org/section.php?pageID=109

And for more information on the Big Nate books, please visit Lincoln Peirce’s website at: http://www.bignatebooks.com/about-the-author

John Green and the Barometer of Truth

by Jenny Ramaley

New York Times bestselling YA author John Green came to Pittsburgh last Friday, Jan. 28, courtesy of the Black, White & Read All Over program.* In case you need a memory jog, John won a Printz award with his first novel Looking for Alaska. His other teen novels have also won a slew of awards and include An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns and his latest, Will Grayson, Will Grayson. His presentation was funny, interesting, self-deprecating, and covered a wide-range of topics from world history and current events.

          But the most fascinating aspect of the evening was the audience.

          Of the almost-sold-out 612 seat Carnegie Lecture Hall, I'd say 90% of the crowd was teens and young adults – equally mixed between male and female. The multi-cultural group sported color-streaked hair, skinny jeans, and even a few girls wearing headscarves. Ah, the positive energy of youth.

          After a clever musical opening act, a duo who wrote songs based on scenes from John's books, John Green hit the stage to the kind of thunderous applause usually reserved for rock stars.

          Why do teens love this guy? Partly because they love his BLOG!  Sure, they obviously enjoy his books, but the big draw stems from their devoted attachment to his website  www.nerdfighters.com , with its dedicated community of world-aware teens who he charges with "raising nerdy to the power of awesome." During the Q&A session, almost every question from the teens focused on the blog, while every question from the 10% remaining 'mature' audience members centered on his books and the YA publishing world.

          While some kidlit author websites and blogs are aimed at adults, John Green's is not. The Nerdfighter website welcomes teens' thoughts, videos, and drawings, and encourages respectful disagreements. John Green and his brother have built a site where intelligent, artistic kids can meet and chat with other smart kids who share similar, sometimes quirky interests. The site and John Green's video rants employ a 'Barometer of Truth' approach because John respects youth's ability to see through less-than-honest information.

          In addition to being a touchstone for young people, Nerdfighters is also a perfect example of how an appealing website can differentiate an author from zillions of other writers and wannabes. The fortunate byproduct is that John Green has built a receptive audience for every new book he publishes.

           

*Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary, Black, White & Read All Over brings families and young readers together to meet the award-winning authors they love and share their stories (although the only parents I saw the night of John's lecture were dropping their teens off at the door.) Black, White & Read All Over is presented by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures in partnership with Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh with the generous support of UPMC Health Plan.