Editing Paula Danziger

{{Short description|American children's book author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Paula Danziger
| image            = 
| image_size       = 
| image_upright    = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1944|08|18}}
| birth_place      = Washington, D.C.
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2004|07|08|1944|08|14}}
| death_place      = New York City, New York
| resting_place    = Woodstock Artist Cemetery, [[Woodstock, New York]]
| nationality      = {{US}}
| alma_mater       = [[Montclair State University]]<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news|last1=Lipson|first1=Eden Ross|title=Paula Danziger, 59, Author Of 'The Cat Ate My Gymsuit'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/arts/paula-danziger-59-author-of-the-cat-ate-my-gymsuit.html|access-date=19 Feb 2018|work=The New York Times|date=10 Jul 2004}}</ref>
| notableworks     = ''The Cat Ate My Gymsuit''; the [[Amber Brown]] series
| relatives        = 
| awards           = 
| signature        = 
| signature_alt    = 
| years_active     = 1974–2004
| website          = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} -->
}}

'''Paula Danziger''' (August 18, 1944 – July 8, 2004) was an American [[children's literature|children's author]]. She wrote more than 30 books, including her 1974 debut ''[[The Cat Ate My Gymsuit]]'', for children's and [[Young adult fiction|young adult]] 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]], and [[Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania]], before settling in [[Metuchen, New Jersey]], when Paula was in sixth grade.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Manelius |first1=Lauren |title=Paula Danziger|url=https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/bios/Danziger__Paula|website=Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania|publisher=Pennsylvania Center for the Book|access-date=19 Feb 2018}}</ref> 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 [my family] was supportive and emotionally generous. My father was a very unhappy person, very sarcastic, and my mother [was] very nervous and worried about what people thought. They weren't monsters, but it wasn't a good childhood."<ref name="pieinthesky">{{cite news|last1=Cary|first1=Alice|title=Paula Danziger: Pie in the sky dreams|url=https://bookpage.com/interviews/8482-paula-danziger|access-date=19 February 2018|work=BookPage|date=Feb 1996}}</ref> She graduated from [[Metuchen High School]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/222704424/ "Pros tell novices of happy ending in children's books"], ''[[Courier News]]'', October 1, 1984. Accessed February 19, 2018. "A graduate of Metuchen High School, Danziger has authored four best-selling children's books, including ''The Cat Ate My Gym Suit.''"</ref>

She was encouraged to study nursing in college but instead studied to become a teacher at [[Montclair State University]], where she was mentored by poet [[John Ciardi]].<ref name="pieinthesky" /> After earning a bachelor's degree in education, Danziger taught junior high school English while pursuing a master's degree.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Woo|first1=Elaine|title=Paula Danziger, 59; Wrote Novels for Teens|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-10-me-danziger10-story.html|access-date=19 Feb 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|date=10 Jul 2004}}</ref> 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.<ref>The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, "A Note From Paula" (foreword), Puffin Books, 2014. {{ISBN|9780142406540}}.</ref>

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 [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC's]] Saturday-morning show ''[[Live & Kicking]]'' in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Children's author Danziger dies|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3882825.stm|work=BBC News|date=10 Jul 2004}}</ref>

=== 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 [[Mount Sinai Morningside|St. Luke's Hospital]] in [[Manhattan]] on July 8, 2004.<ref name="nytobit" />

Following a memorial service at [[Riverside Memorial Chapel]] in New York City,<ref>{{cite news|title=Paid Notice: Deaths DANZIGER, PAULA|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/classified/paid-notice-deaths-danziger-paula.html|access-date=19 Feb 2018|work=New York Times|date=11 Jul 2004}}</ref> Paula was buried in the Woodstock Artists Cemetery in [[Woodstock, New York]].<ref>[http://woodstockartistscemetery.org/ Woodstock Artists Cemetery]. Accessed September 1, 2012.</ref> 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.<ref name="pieinthesky" /> She frequently gave lectures and speeches, wearing elaborate costumes and calling herself a children's [[Dame Edna Everage]]. She is quoted as saying that her alternative career choice would have been to be a comedian.<ref name="nytobit" />

She collaborated with [[Ann M. Martin]] twice, with ''[[P.S. Longer Letter Later]]'' (1998) and ''[[Snail Mail No More]]'' (2000).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Ann M.|date=April 2000|title=An Interview With Ann and Her Friend Paula Danziger!|url=http://www.scholastic.com/annmartin/letters/2000-04.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227022341/http://www.scholastic.com/annmartin/letters/2000-04.htm|archive-date=December 27, 2007|access-date=1 Sep 2012|website=Letters from Ann|publisher=Scholastic}}</ref> The two would send correspondence to each other as if they were the main characters.<ref name=":0" />

Paula Danziger and her fellow author [[Bruce Coville]] read their work to each other over the phone beginning in 1992,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staino|first1=Rocco|title=Interview: Coville, Levy on Co-Writing New 'Amber Brown'|url=https://www.slj.com/2012/08/interviews/interview-coville-levy-on-co-writing-new-amber-brown/|access-date=19 Feb 2018|work=School Library Journal|date=13 Aug 2012}}</ref> continuing for over a decade as a two-person writers' group<ref name=":0">{{cite news|date=6 Sep 2004|title=Paula Danziger Remembered|work=Publishers Weekly|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/32633-paula-danziger-remembered.html|access-date=19 Feb 2018}}</ref> 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]] of the title character's mother.<ref name="publishersweekly">{{cite magazine |last1=Lodge |first1=Sally |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/52101-paula-danziger-s-best-friends-revive-amber-brown.html |title=Paula's Danziger's Best Friends Revive Amber Brown Series|date=24 May 2012 |magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]]|access-date=14 Aug 2012}}</ref>

==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]] 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]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=SCBWI Amber Brown Grant|url=https://www.scbwi.org/awards/grants/amber-brown-grant/|website=Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators|access-date=19 Feb 2018|archive-date=December 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211085815/https://www.scbwi.org/awards/grants/amber-brown-grant/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==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==
{{reflist |25em}}

==External links==
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
* [http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/paula-danziger-0 Danziger biography] at publisher Scholastic Books
* {{Find a Grave|9074241}}
* {{LCAuth|n80045129|Paula Danziger|44|}} (mainly previous page of browse report, under 'Danziger, Paula, 1944–' without '2004')

{{Paula Danziger}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danziger, Paula}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:American children's writers]]
[[Category:Montclair State University alumni]]
[[Category:Metuchen High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Metuchen, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Writers from Middlesex County, New Jersey]]