Author Spotlight: Paula Danziger
It takes a special kind of person to be able to relate to both children and those in between childhood and adulthood. Such was the power of American author Paula Danziger, who became popular for a series of realistic children’s fiction called Amber Brown and a young adult novel titled The Cat Ate My Gymsuit.
Danziger was born in Washington in August 1944 to a small family of three. The Danziger family eventually settled in New Jersey a few years after Paula was born. Danziger doesn’t discuss her childhood in interviews a lot but claims that it was an unhappy one. She had been encouraged to take up nursing, but she instead studied education at Montclair State University. She taught junior high school English after obtaining her bachelor’s degree and then continued to pursue a master’s degree.
Despite being a teacher, Danziger’s true dream was to become a writer, which she pursued while teaching. This dream was realized in 1974 with the publication of The Cat Ate My Gymsuit in the same year. The story is about a young girl named Marcy who is on the brink of failing gym class because she doesn’t like changing clothes in front of other people. The title of the novel comes from one of the excuses Marcy gives her teacher to get out of gym class. Danziger has stated in interviews that this novel (as well as most of her future work) draws from her childhood experiences. The book became an instant hit. However, Danziger got into a car accident just as she was starting a new career as a writer.
After recovering from the accident, Danziger returned to teaching but continued to write on the side. While writing her second novel, she decided to focus on writing full time. The continued success of her books through the years allowed Danziger to fully realize her dream of becoming a writer. Readers enjoyed Danziger’s fresh and humorous take on the young adult experience, which was a rare find at the time, especially in the realm of children’s and young adult fiction.
Danziger is most popular for her children’s series, Amber Brown. The first book, Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon, details the struggle of Amber when she is faced with the fact that her best friend is moving away. Through this series, Danziger was able to convey pretty heavy issues to children, such as school trauma, divorce, and blending families.
One of Danziger’s final books is a mixed-medium book for older kids called United Tates of America, which is half story and half scrapbook. The book tells the story of the Tates, a story about Danziger’s nephews and nieces.
In 2004, the literary world was shaken with the news of Danziger’s sudden death from a heart attack. She was only fifty-nine. Throughout her career, Danziger received many awards, including the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award in 1979 for The Cat Ate My Gymsuit and the California Young Reader Medal for There’s a Bat in Bunk Five in 1984. A grant by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators was also named after one of her most popular characters, Amber Brown.
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