Science Fiction
“Potato Pancake” GN Selected As PJ Library Title
I’m happy to announce that my graphic novel The Day I Became a Potato Pancake has been selected as a PJ Library title, and it’s also the recipient of PJ Library’s Grinspoon Jewish Story Award (GJSA).
This means that this book has been selected for use in PJ Library’s fall 2026 lineup.
The Day I Became a Potato Pancake was written by yours truly and illustrated by the incredible Beilin Xu. It was originally published in the fall of 2024 by Behrman House, via their Apples & Honey Press imprint. The book is about two kids, Naomi and Ben, whose friendship is put to the test when Ben is transformed into a walking, talking potato pancake.
Here’s what critics have said about this book:
“This speculative, character-focused graphic novel highlights aspects of Jewish identity and culture through multiple lenses to craft a goofy yet nuanced read.”
“This is a really funny Hanukkah-themed sci-fi graphic novel for middle grade or early chapter book readers…It’s a silly read that kids will love.”
“I happily recommend this book to all readers.”
Anyway, I just want to thank Chris Barash, Tasha Flagg, and everyone else at PJ Library for this great honor. Know what? I had a wonderful time writing The Day I Became a Potato Pancake. The work is its own reward, right? But over the past two years since its initial release, it’s been really gratifying to see this graphic novel find an audience. To see critics and audiences respond to it in such a positive way. And now to have won this award, and to have had the book selected as a PJ Library title? That’s just the cherry on top. Except that I don’t like cherries. They really…I don’t know. I don’t like the way they taste. (No offense to people who like cherries.) Who started that whole deal, anyway? Putting a cherry on top of an otherwise delicious ice cream sundae. Was there a period of trial and error there? Did they first put a pickle on top of a sundae and that didn’t really gel with the taste of the ice cream? Then they tried a nectarine and they were like, “Closer, but we’re not quite there yet…” And THEN they tried a cherry? And why do we spell it “sundae,” while the day of the week is “Sunday”? I mean, it’s not like there’s a computer in my pocket which is shaped like a Pop-Tart, and which could answer that question for me in a matter of nanoseconds. Oh wait, there is! Never mind!
Happy 626 Day from Stitch…and Me!
Today is “626 Day,” an annual fan-fueled holiday in honor of Disney’s Stitch, aka “Experiment 626.” And as you may know, over the past four years, I’ve written several Stitch children’s books for Scholastic.
Three of them are available now. They are:
1) The Book of Mischief, an activity book which you can learn more about HERE. And as you can see from the image I’ve posted here, the cover of this book even looks like Stitch! The cover has Stitch’s eyes, nose, mouth, and floppy ears, and it’s made of fuzzy blue plush fabric, so it even feels like Stitch. And yes, the cover of this book is very similar to the cover of ANOTHER Stitch activity book I wrote a few years ago, titled The Adventures of YOU and Stitch. You know what? That’s life sometimes: stuff resembles other stuff. Or in this case, new stuff resembles old stuff. Anyway, this is the official publisher description of The Book of Mischief:
For fans of Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, this new plush activity book features fun writing prompts, drawing prompts, activities, and games.
2) Out-of-This-World Numbers, which you can learn more about HERE. Now, you might assume that this book teaches kids about numbers from 1-10 or something like that. And that’s not actually true. This book teaches kids interesting science facts! But it does that in a very sneaky way: in the book, Stitch tells Lilo about some “interesting and awesome numbers,” each of which is tied to a specific science fact. Like the number 80,000, which is the number of miles the average person walks during their lifetime. Here’s the official 
publisher description of Out-of-This-World Numbers:
Stitch tells Lilo he really likes numbers. In fact, he thinks they are out of this world! Embrace a cosmic attitude and read along to find out which numbers leave Stitch starry eyed!
3) Friends Rock, which you can learn more about HERE. This is a board book which teaches young children about emotions. It also features a squishy replica of Stitch’s head on the final spread. Kids can squish and knead the squishy Stitch head! Which kids (especially very young ones) are wont to do! Here’s a publisher description of Friends Rock:
Lilo is disappointed when Stitch doesn’t want to dance. Stitch is nervous that his plan to cheer Lilo up won’t work. Follow along in this heartwarming friendship story to identify and explore feelings with Lilo and Stitch!
I should also mention that these three books are only available for distribution through the school market. In other words, they’re exclusively available through Scholastic Reading Events (aka Scholastic Book Clubs), so you won’t be able to find them on Amazon. But you CAN find them via the links I’ve provided above.
Happy New Year from Li’l Nosferatu!
Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to 2026! And welcome to my “year-end wrap-up” blog post for 2025. Look, before you say anything: yes, I’m writing a “year-end” post the day after the year ended. Which is probably against the rules, but as I’ve learned over the years, I don’t like rules. Rules are stupid. Also, I was busy yesterday.
So. Here are some of the best things that happened to me in 2025:
I wrote many, many books. Most of them were for kids. Some of them were for adults. Here are the titles of some (but not all) of those books:
The Encyclopedia of Curious Rituals and Superstitions.
The Fantastic Four Little Golden Book.
Stitch: Out-of-This-World Numbers.
Also, in January of 2025, I began working as a writer and narrative designer for an upcoming video game called Shadows of Dawn, which is being developed by Next Player Games. Currently, I’m still working on the game with the good folks at NPG.
And as you may recall, back in 2023, I wrote two episodes of the animated preschool series Hey! Fuzzy Yellow. In 2024, one of the episodes began airing and streaming. But starting in 2025, both episodes (“Boomerang Jelly Car” and “Sculpture Jam Abstract”) began airing and streaming. I wrote the scripts and the song lyrics for both episodes. As of this writing, Hey! Fuzzy Yellow still hasn’t begun airing or streaming in the US, but it’s available in various countries in Europe, Central America, and South America.
I also wrote the script for a Passover-themed children’s audio drama, titled “Mort the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah,” which was released in the spring of 2025 as part of Yoto’s 5-Minute Spring Holiday Stories collection. The title character, Mort, was even voiced by a friend of mine, Eli Schiff!
And there are several other projects I worked on throughout 2025, some of which will come out this year. I announced one of them, 96 Facts About Chappell Roan, in my previous blog post. (That book comes out on January 13th.) But I’ll announce some of my other upcoming projects ASAP. Please keep checking this site for more info!
BTW, I wouldn’t have worked on any of the aforementioned projects without the book editors, video game producers, and TV showrunners who gave me these writing gigs in the first place. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who hired me in 2025 (or really, anyone who hired me at any time, ever). And I mean that.
You may also be wondering about the “Baby New Year” photo which adorns this blog post. See, to usher in the new year, I’ve put a “2026” sash around a puppet I built. I call him “Li’l Nosferatu.” If you’re obsessed with me (and why wouldn’t you be?), you’ll notice that I’ve occasionally posted pics of Li’l Nosferatu on social media during the past couple of years. For today’s purposes, Li’l Nosferatu is playing the part of Baby New Year.
Someday, I’ll explain the backstory behind this puppet, because there is indeed quite a bit of backstory there. Basically, I built the puppet for a project which never came to fruition. But more on that some other time.
And to anyone who’s reading this, I just wanted to wish you the best for a wonderful new year!