Julia Gerhardt
Staff Writer
John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars book signing tour arrived at Lincoln Middle School on Thursday, Jan. 26. Many of the readers that attended were eager to see his presentation about his most recent New York Times Bestseller. However, a majority of his fans were from his Nerdfighters campaign.
“I’m here because I’m a Nerd Fighter,” freshman Jazzmin Cotterell said. “I watch a lot of YouTube videos and I came across the VlogBrothers Channel and I found out that he wrote books.”
Vlogbrothers is a popular YouTube channel co-hosted by brothers John and Hank Green. From their blog they created a following called “Nerdfigthers,” a group of people who fight for nerd power. These Nerd Fighters can be spotted through the advertisement of their popular slogan, “Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.” The blog was established in 2007 and continues to climb the charts with videos ranging from comedic to serious topics.
Their informal video show prompted this unusual book tour, which included an excerpt of the new book read by Green and many of the Vlogbrother’s first hit songs performed by his brother, Hank.
“This presentation was kind of informal,” junior Nikki Bell said. “Most of time at an author talk the author sits down and answers questions and maybe reads an excerpt. But at this one, music was playing, and there was a lot of audience participation and interaction.”
His website fan base and book fanatics were excited to see the unique collaboration of songs and comedy.
“I think he was able to generate such a crowd with a mixture of his new novel, and his fans who enjoyed [he] and his brother’s videos,” junior Robbie Browning said.
Although many students attended this event, Green’s books and videos also reach an older audience such as college students.
“His books are poetic because the way he puts words together is beautiful,” UC Irvine sophomore Alex Muro said. “You read a paragraph and it makes you feel something.”
Many Samo students also enjoy the author’s work because of the characters he portrays in his novels.
“What I enjoy about John’s writing is that it is very simple yet complex. He can say a lot with out directly saying it,” Browning said. “He gives a lot of meaning to each word he says.”
jgerhardt@thesamohi.com