"We could easily write a book ourselves'

One night, Rochester resident Jack Perrone was reading a bedtime story to his 8-year-old daughter, Eve, when he noticed one of her drawings taped to the wall.

It was about an unusual kind of superhero. This one blinded bad guys with well-aimed pepperonis. Wrapped up evil-doers in long strands of string cheese. And punished the criminal with his "cheesy jokes."

Pizza Man to the rescue!

The concept on Eve's wall gave birth to a father-daughter collaboration for a book, "Brooklyn's Pizza Man," that began selling in September.

"Basically, I was reading her a children's book, and I thought that we could easily write a book ourselves," Jack Perrone said.

After Eve came up with the core concept, her dad ran with it, writing the story and incorporating lines from his daughter's drawing into the book and then hiring a self-publishing outfit, Friesen Press, to do the illustrations.

A third-grade student at Bamber Valley Elementary School who enjoys tennis and dancing, Eve now adds co-author to her credits. Few 8-year-olds have written books that are sold over the Internet or can be checked out at the Rochester Public Library. She was also among the authors who promoted and signed books at the annual Celebration of Rochester Area Authors Nov. 21 at the library.

The two chose Brooklyn as the site of Pizza Man's adventures because Eve's mom hails from Brooklyn. They had vacationed there and tasted the pizza, an experience that, in their eyes, validated its claim of having the best slices in the world.

"After visiting Brooklyn several times, we thought it would be a great place for the book to be based out of," Perrone said.

The digital book can be bought for $2.99 at online booksellers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and a hard copy can be purchased for $18.99 through Friesen Press .

For Perrone, an obstetrician gynecologist at Olmsted Medical Center, writing a children's book about a magic slice of pizza was a change of pace for a professional who up to then had only written for medical journals and publications.

"I had a good time with it," he said. "It was fun to do it with her. And it was something different for me, compared to doing surgery, delivering babies and doing C-sections."

Will there be a sequel? There are no shortage of pests, rats and other vermin to do battle with. Certainly the first book sets the stage for one. At the end of the book, Pizza Man is traveling to Italy for possibly more adventures. But Eve says she hasn't made up her mind yet.

"I don't know. It depends on what the (first) book is like," she said.