Thousands of readers voted for author Alexandra Robbins’ (’94) novel, “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School,” for the 2011 Goodreads Choice Award for best non-fiction book of the year. Each December, Goodreads, the largest website for readers and book recommendations in the world, hosts the Goodreads Choice Awards.

Alexandra Robbins, who was Editor-in-Chief of the Black & White, has written many books including “The Overachievers” and “Pledged.” “Geeks” follows the stories of real high school students and seeks to explain why popularity in high school isn’t as important as people perceive it to be. The Black & White talked to Robbins about her writing background, career and aspirations.   

Black & White: What does winning this award mean to you, your fans and your career?

Alexandra Robbins: It’s a nice validation that people like what they read. It means a lot to me personally because my readers are incredibly supportive of my work.  I feel very lucky to have such a great group of readers, especially those who interact with me regularly on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and maybe the award makes them feel validated, too.  Most important, the award will give more exposure to the messages in “Geeks,” which can help a lot of kids.

B&W: Can you give a brief summary of “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth” and the inspiration behind it?

AR: For the stories, I followed seven high school outsiders for a year.  In the middle of the year, I surprised them with a challenge, kind of like MTV’s show “Made.”  I gave each student a different experiment to see if they could change the way other people perceived them without directly changing anything about themselves. I wanted to write a book that was fun to read and could convince students and parents that popularity isn’t everything and that it’s great to be different.

Too many students are losing hope when they are excluded because of qualities, interests or skills that should be embraced. People tell students that things are going to get better, that someday people will appreciate them, that after graduation they will find people who will relate to them.  But they don’t explain to students why that is. I wrote “Geeks” to explain why.  It has two main messages: first, being excluded in school doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you.  In fact, it may be a sign that you’re going to be an extraordinary adult. And two, being popular doesn’t make you happy.

B&W:  How and why did you become an author?

AR: By accident.  I always thought I’d be a starving newspaper reporter.  But I discovered pretty quickly that when I investigated a topic, I liked to go more in-depth than a 500-word newspaper article or 4,000-word magazine article would allow.  So I figured I’d give books a try.  I never expected that book-writing would become a full-time career.

B&W:  Did your experience as Editor-in-Chief of the Black & White impact your decision to become an author, and if so, how?

AR:  The Black & White sparked my interest in journalism, which led to my book-writing career.  At Whitman, I was on an investigative news feature beat, primarily, and that beat pretty much describes the genre of books and articles that I write today

B&W: What is the hardest part of your job? Best part?

AR:  The hardest part is probably the solitude of spending so much time writing alone. I wish I had “colleagues” nearby to shoot the breeze with. The best part is the speaking tour I do post-publication because I love to meet readers, especially students.  The lectures are a good antidote for the loneliness.

B&W: If there is one message you could send to your readers, fans and the world, what would it be?

AR:  Can I quote Dr. Seuss? “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

 B&W: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

AR: Write when you’re inspired, no matter whom you’re writing for.  Read as much as you can.  And remember — another quote, but this one is from Friday Night Light’s Coach Taylor – “Success isn’t a goal; it’s a byproduct.”