Last week, I was shocked to learn that Shirley Waisman and I won a Golden Duck Notable award from Core for HOW TO WELCOME AN ALIEN! It’s for excellence in sci-fi kidlit. Before I learned I’d won it, I had no idea this award even existed, but it gives me particular pleasure because while the book got some attention as a Jewish book, I think of it as a sci-fi book, as well.

Apparently, Core is the national association that advances the profession of librarians and information providers in centr...