Say hi to Miss Martone's class at Cathedral Chapel School in Los Angeles. Hi, class! Miss Martone is front right; your author is playing Waldo in the middle. Miss Martone has been teaching Eleven to her students at CCS this spring and invited me by for a mid-book check-in. These kids are excellent readers, and we had an ... MORE ▶
The sixth-graders at McKinley Avenue School have been diligently working through Eleven this semester. (You can read more about them and see pictures here.) One of the central mysteries in the story revolves around a character known only as The Man in the White Shirt. Midway through the book, our amateur sleuths were asked to say who they thought The ... MORE ▶
My recent post on my friend Andy Roth apparently got a bit of a tailwind and was seen by quite a few people. (If you missed it, you can read it here.) Andy's network of friends and fellow Holocaust survivors brought in readers from all over the globe. To any new fans of Eleven: Welcome! After you read this, I hope ... MORE ▶
Hello it is Radar. I love to run. Especially for tennis ball. I will run all day for tennis ball. Nom nom. Some humans love to run. Some of them just ran the Boston Marathon this week. Here are some dogs who helped make the Boston Marathon safe this year. They sniff for bombs. I would not like ... MORE ▶
Hello it is Radar. This is Buffy. She's a Corgi. Isn't she just...so completely...her eyes...fur...I...she.... [Note from humantom: at this point, Radar's giant tongue got tied, and he seemed at a complete loss for words.] I do too have words. But they are dog words full of complex emotions that humantom does not not know how to translate. I will ... MORE ▶
This is my tennis pal, Andy Roth. I’ve known Andy for nearly twenty years and play tennis with him and a regular group several times a week. He has a wicked forehand, runs down every ball, and never misses a chance to humiliate me with a passing shot, after which he howls with glee. Here’s how he usually responds when ... MORE ▶
Today, I'm going to brag about my kids. All thirty of them. Mr. Shapiro's Class, Room 26, McKinley Avenue School Since January, I've been teaching Eleven to the students in Jeff Shapiro's sixth-grade class at McKinley Avenue School in South Los Angeles. They are serious scholars, every one. Mr. Shapiro is an old friend and has ... MORE ▶
Hello it is Radar. I have told you before that I love dogs who are heroes, like the dogs who helped search the buildings after 9/11. Here is a dog I just met who was not at 9/11 but is like those dogs because he tries to make our humans safe. His name is Artos and he has a business ... MORE ▶
Great article in The Atlantic by Megan McArdle about why some writers (ahem...) procrastinate. I fit the "good-in-English-class-so-therefore-creative-writing-must-be-easy" type. When it isn't easy, it feels like failure. But good writing is all about failing. A lot. What exists as a work of staggering genius in your head grows feet of clay as it flops with a wet plop onto the ... MORE ▶
Hello it is Radar. This is my blog called Radar's Corner. (I tell it to humantom, who types it for me.) Here is my friend Bella. She likes to fetch sticks. Today she caught a big one. I love to fetch sticks. It makes me happier than almost anything except eating, sleeping, licking, Chew Toy, jumping, sleeping some more, sniffing, ... MORE ▶