Big Nate a.k.a. middle schooler Nate Wright is eleven years old four-&-a-half feet tall & the wunderkind creation of cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. Nate is also the star of six novelized books to be published by Harper Collins the first of which debuted on the New York Times children's best-seller list. Big Nate Out Loud collects Peirce's Big Nate strips originally published only in newspapers & online at comics.com. For those not familiar with Big Nate think Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Calvin & Hobbes. Nate is a self-described genius & a sixth-grade Renaissance man equipped with only a 2 pencil & the unshakable belief that he is destined for greatness (a fortune cookie told him so). He fights a daily battle against overzealous teachers undercooked cafeteria food & all-around conventionality. He's the original rebel without a clue alternately abrasive & endearing to classmates & teachers alike. Throughout Peirce's Big Nate Out Loud Nate blazes an unforgettable trail through the sixth grade earning straight A's in laughs (and numerous detentions) along the way.