Paula Danziger (August 18, 1944 – July 8, 2004) was an American
children's author who wrote more than 30 books, including her 1974 debut ''
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'', for children's and
young adult
In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...
audiences. At the time of her death, all her books were still in print; they had been published in 53 countries and translated into 14 languages.
Life
Birth and family
Paula Danziger was born August 18, 1944, to Samuel and Carolyn Danziger. A younger brother, Barry, was born in 1947.
Education and early career
The Danziger family lived in
Nutley, New Jersey
Nutley is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 30,143, an increase of 1,773 (+6.2%) from the 2010 United ...
, and
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900 ...
, before settling in
Metuchen, New Jersey
Metuchen ( ) is a suburban Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valle ...
, when Paula was in sixth grade. In an interview with ''BookPage'', she said: "At age 12, I was put on tranquilizers when I should have gotten help. There was nothing major and awful. I just didn't feel
y familywas supportive and emotionally generous. My father was a very unhappy person, very sarcastic, and my mother
asvery nervous and worried about what people thought. They weren't monsters, but it wasn't a good childhood."
She graduated from
Metuchen High School
Metuchen High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Metuchen in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Met ...
.
She was encouraged to study nursing in college but instead studied to become a teacher at
Montclair State University
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...
, where she was mentored by poet
John Ciardi.
After earning a bachelor's degree in education, Danziger taught junior high school English while pursuing a master's degree. After being injured in an automobile accident, she had trouble writing, as she was only able to write backwards. She was able to regain the ability to write normally, but she remained able to write backwards for the rest of her life. This sequence of events prompted her to do what she really want to do in life; she began writing.
Following the success of ''The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'', Danziger left teaching to write full-time in 1978. She maintained homes in New York City and in
Bearsville, New York. For several years, she had a flat in London, where she was known for presenting a regular item about children's literature on the
BBC's Saturday-morning show ''
Live & Kicking
''Live & Kicking'' was a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for '' Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, ...
'' in the 1980s and 1990s.
Death
On June 9, 2004, she experienced chest pain while her niece, Carrie Danziger, was visiting. After trying to hide her discomfort and phoning a neighbor about her concern, she ultimately went to a hospital, where she was diagnosed as having suffered a heart attack. She remained in the hospital and died from complications of the heart attack at
St. Luke's Hospital in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
on July 8, 2004.
Following a memorial service at
Riverside Memorial Chapel
The Riverside Memorial Chapel is an American Jewish funeral home chain with their main facility at 180 West 76th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.[Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...]
. She was survived by her brother Barry, her niece Carrie, and three nephews.
Writing career
Danziger's debut novel was ''
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'', whose characters were largely based on her childhood experiences. She continued writing books for teens through the 1980s, expanding to books for younger readers with the Amber Brown series, whose protagonist is based on Danziger's niece Carrie.
She frequently gave lectures and speeches, wearing elaborate costumes and calling herself a children's
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, ...
. She is quoted as saying that her alternative career choice would have been to be a comedian.
She collaborated with
Ann M. Martin twice, with ''
P.S. Longer Letter Later'' (1998) and ''
Snail Mail No More'' (2000). The two would send correspondence to each other as if they were the main characters.
Paula Danziger and her fellow author
Bruce Coville read their work to each other over the phone beginning in 1992, continuing for over a decade as a two-person writers' group
and later including author
Elizabeth Levy. Following Danziger's passing, Coville and Levy continued her ''Amber Brown'' series, beginning with ''Amber Brown is Tickled Pink'' (2012), which told the story of the
remarriage
Remarriage is a marriage that takes place after a previous marital union has ended, as through divorce or widowhood.
Some individuals are more likely to remarry than others; the likelihood can differ based on previous relationship status (e.g. di ...
of the title character's mother.
Awards
Paula Danziger's works were nominated for and won many US state-level children's book awards, including the
Massachusetts Children's Book Award for ''The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'' in 1979 and the
California Young Reader Medal
The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily ...
for ''There's a Bat in Bunk Five'' in 1984. Four of her works were named IRA-CBC Children's Choices: ''The Pistachio Prescription'' in 1979, ''The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'' and ''Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice?'' in 1980, and ''There's a Bat in Bunk Five'' in 1981.
The
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...
awards the Amber Brown Grant, which provides an all-expenses-paid, full-day visit by a well-respected children's author or illustrator, a stipend to assist in creating the event, and $250 worth of books by the visiting author, to one or two schools annually in her honor.
Published works
For children
Amber Brown books
*''Amber Brown is Not a Crayon'' (1994)
*''You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown'' (1995)
*''Amber Brown Goes Fourth'' (1995)
*''Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit'' (1996)
*''Forever Amber Brown'' (1996)
*''Amber Brown Sees Red'' (1997)
*''Amber Brown is Feeling Blue'' (1998)
*''I, Amber Brown'' (1999)
*''Amber Brown is Green with Envy'' (2003)
*''Amber Brown is Tickled Pink'' (2012; in the style of, inspired by, dedicated to)
A is for Amber Brown series
*''What a Trip, Amber Brown'' (2001)
*''It's Justin Time, Amber Brown'' (2001)
*''Get Ready for Second Grade, Amber Brown'' (2002)
*''Orange You Glad It's Halloween, Amber Brown?'' (2002)
*''It's a Fair Day, Amber Brown'' (2003)
Others
*''Barfburger Baby, I Was Here First'' (2004)
For teenagers
Matthew Martin books
*''Everyone Else's Parents Said Yes'' (1989)
*''Make Like a Tree and Leave'' (1990)
*''Earth to Matthew'' (1991)
*''Not for a Billion Gazillion Dollars'' (1992)
Tara*Starr and Elizabeth books
*''
P.S. Longer Letter Later'' (with
Ann M. Martin) (1998)
*''
Snail Mail No More'' (with
Ann M. Martin) (2000)
Rosie and Phoebe books
*''The Divorce Express'' (1982)
*''It's an Aardvark-Eat-Turtle World'' (1985)
Marcy Lewis books
*''
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'' (1974)
*''
There's a Bat in Bunk Five'' (1980)
Kendra Kaye books
*''Remember Me to Harold Square'' (1987)
*''Thames Doesn't Rhyme With James'' (1994)
Others
*''The Pistachio Prescription'' (1978)
*''Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice?'' (1979)
*''This Place Has No Atmosphere'' (1986)
*''United Tates of America'' (2002)
References
External links
Danziger biographyat publisher Scholastic Books
*
* (mainly previous page of browse report, under 'Danziger, Paula, 1944–' without '2004')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danziger, Paula
1944 births
2004 deaths
American children's writers
Montclair State University alumni
Metuchen High School alumni
People from Metuchen, New Jersey
Writers from Middlesex County, New Jersey