On the coolness of Librarians

So I just found out The Name of the Wind won a new award….

YALSA announces 2008 Alex Awards

PHILADELPHIA – The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected 10 adult books that will appeal to teen readers to receive the 2008 Alex Awards.

I can see the headlines now: “Patrick Rothfuss appeals to teens.” My friends are going to have a field day with this…

Seriously though, I’m terribly flattered. When the American Library Association likes your book, you know you must be doing something right. Librarians kick ass, and the more of them you get together in one place, the more powerful they become. Like Voltron.

This will also help me feel more comfortable answering a question that I’ve been getting asked on and off for the last several months. Namely, “Is your book for kids?”

Up until now, the only answer I’ve had for this has sounded extremely dodgy. I say, “Well, it kinda depends on what you mean by “kids,” and it kinda depends on what you mean by ‘for.'”

Do you see what I’m getting at? I read the Lord of the Rings when I was 11 or so. I don’t know if it was *for* me, but I certainly enjoyed it….

Up until now, when someone asked me this question try to pin down the specific age of the kid they’re asking about. Sixteen? Sure. Fourteen? Yeah, probably. Twelve? Hmmm…. I’m not sure…

I even know some families that have read my book to their kids who were 5-6 years old. Apparently, the young-uns dug it. I wouldn’t have anticipated that in a hundred years. Those kids must have some kick-ass vocabulary….

Now, however, I don’t have to feel strange about answering this question. The professionals have weighed in on the subject. Huzzah.

For more information, and to see the other Alex award winners, you can check out the press release HERE.

That’s all for today. I’ve been putting together the announcement-type newspost I’ve hinted at a couple times, but it won’t be ready until tomorrow. I’ve got AFK busyness all today….

Forshadowingly yours,

pat

This entry was posted in awardsBy Pat24 Responses

24 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 4:07 PM | Permalink

    Way to go Pat! If librarians like your stuff that means you are a threat to the man. I have always considered you someone to keep an eye on, but it is nice to get some validation.Cheers,Todd

  2. Pat
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 4:10 PM | Permalink

    Cool. I’ve always wanted to be a threat to The Man. Maybe soon I’ll be in the position to stick it to said Man.

  3. Kate
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 4:33 PM | Permalink

    Woohoo! I did say that I’d send you a congratulations on every award!So consider yourself <>Congratumatated.<>As far as kids go though, I think my son who is 12 would love the book. You don’t have anything really horribly scary in there aside from well, <>you know<>. I think I could read parts of it to my 7 year old, but she might not get the depth of the whole story. So I guess while the messages may be lost on the younglings, it’s a great adventure story FOR any child out there.

  4. roseneko
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 6:53 PM | Permalink

    Speaking as a former librarian, I agree that librarians are awesome, especially in groups – some of my favorite memories from college are going to the librarian staff parties. Congrats on the award!

  5. King Sheep
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 6:55 PM | Permalink

    You rock. Like a Voltron librarian (with Dewey Decimal lasers).

  6. black Sunshine
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 7:43 PM | Permalink

    OMG. Cloverfield . . . is LIBRARIANS! not Voltron!!!

  7. Eric
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 8:48 PM | Permalink

    That’s great news. You definitely deserve it.I know I think my 11 and 13 year olds would like your book, and they could deal with the length if they got sucked in.Like Garth Nix I would say your work is less “for kids” and more “kid friendly.”http://www.dragonseptarts.com/

  8. Kazimeriz
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 9:14 PM | Permalink

    “Librarians kick ass” –Pat Rothfuss

  9. Anton Strout
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 9:27 PM | Permalink

    “appeals to teens” then “stick it to said man”….Field day, indeed!

  10. Bek
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 10:55 PM | Permalink

    Awesome Pat. Ditto on the “librarians kick ass”. My high school librarian was one awesome lady who had so much confidence in me that I actually started to believe it myself. You know, those crazy mixed up teen years where your confidence hangs by a split end hair. =)By the way, I know it’s been up on your site forever but I love your t-shirt, “Joss Whedon is my Master now”. Whedon’s Firefly was and is my all time favorite SciFi series and it was a tragedy when it was cancelled. Bekah

  11. Mary J.
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 12:05 AM | Permalink

    Congratulations and an extra special hug from me! (You know why!)<>Huzzah!<>

  12. Anonymous
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 12:30 AM | Permalink

    I am a lesbinarian, so I’m really getting a kick out of these comments. Congrats Pat. Has your stuff been burned by a church congregation yet? I think that comes next…MR

  13. pdxtrent
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 6:07 AM | Permalink

    Congrats! Now back to work on book 2!

  14. Alison
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 6:10 AM | Permalink

    For serious? You’re really, really going to post this news tomorrow? I’m holding you to that, bub. And it’s probably something silly like, “I got a new cat!” Exciting, but not entirely worth the foreshadowing. So I doubt it.< /ramble >

  15. Pamela
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 9:35 AM | Permalink

    Congratulations! I don’t know what more can be said. :)

  16. Kalligenia
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 3:23 PM | Permalink

    Congratulations! ^_^It is a fuzzy area of what kids are reading what books. Like you, I read the Lord of the Rings at a young age. I was also reading Stephen King when I was ten. I don’t think some of that stuff was meant for a ten year old to read! Some kids are just more mature than others. I think your book would be far better for kids than King!

  17. Anonymous
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 4:34 PM | Permalink

    Congrdulations pat, another well deserved award. I’m sure you’re book would appeal to teens and younger kids but I suppose that depends on wether they are mature or not (talking about the younger kids, the teens should definitively be mature enough.)

  18. Anonymous
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 8:03 PM | Permalink

    Dude, I totally know what the exciting news is; I knew that it wasn’t a coincidence that you posted the day after the premiere of American Idol.You were that one guy that dressed up as Princess Leia and pranced around on stage, right? LOL. Just kidding man.But seriously though brah, congrats! I hope whatever the news is, it’s good. PEACE AND LOVE BRAH!~Kidstaple

  19. Bek
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 8:37 PM | Permalink

    That guy on American Idol was hilarious! A friend of mine called me and said, “You got to watch American Idol. I know this guy.” She said he had told her he was going on American Idol. She said, “Well you know they only show the best and the worst. What category do you fall in?”He answered, “Oh, I’ll be the worst.” So he went there for his five minutes of fame. And let us see a little more than we would have liked. haha.

  20. Captain Joe
    Posted January 17, 2008 at 1:49 AM | Permalink

    <>“Patrick Rothfuss appeals to teens”<>Ha, you (your book) appealed to me back when I was a teen in November. Now I’m still a spring chicken at twenty and it is no less appealing.I recommended your book to about 3500 people aged between 10 and 80 (I have a yahoo group for stories and fanfiction I write) and not a one has come back with a negative review.It’s awesomeness runs across the board, and sold out fast in all the bookshops in my corner of the world (Perth, Western Australia). Couldn’t get a copy for love nor money over Christmas – and I gave a lot of love.Thanks, Pat, for such a good book, and well done on the latest award! You’re just getting warmed up there, in my humble opinion.All the best,Joe

  21. Michael
    Posted January 17, 2008 at 5:00 AM | Permalink

    So it’s “tomorrow” now and still no announcements. Haha… jkBy the way i just finished “Neverwhere” by Gaiman, which i think is one of your favorite books, and i can honestly say “the name of the wind” was “100” times better!!But seriously…where are those announcements!No really…where are they?

  22. Gehennaheretic
    Posted January 17, 2008 at 3:04 PM | Permalink

    Congrats!

  23. chrissykins
    Posted January 18, 2008 at 1:14 AM | Permalink

    My 13 year old son is reading it right now, and loves it! His only complaint is that the next book isn’t done yet and he’ll have to wait for it LOL. I told him if I have to suffer, so does he…Congrats on the award!

  24. Michelle's Ghost
    Posted January 19, 2008 at 5:01 AM | Permalink

    You win all the great author awards in my book.

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