Creator / Paula Danziger

Paula Danziger (August 18, 1944 – July 8, 2004) was an award-winning American author of children's and young adult literature. She grew up in a family with an unhappy, sarcastic father and a nervous mother. This made for a childhood in which some of her emotional needs were not met, which informed some of her novels for young people. Although encouraged to study nursing, she became a teacher. She had wanted to be a writer since the second grade and, following the success of her novel The Cat Ate My Gymsuit (1974), Danziger left teaching in order to become a full-time writer in 1978.

She cooperated with Ann M. Martin on two novels.

Danziger died in 2004 from complications following a heart attack. Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy continued writing books for her Amber Brown series.

Danziger's appeal lies in the fact that her writing tends to show growing up from a perspective that is very sympathetic toward her young protagonists, who are portrayed realistically as children and youth going through various growing pains and coming-of-age experiences. Her writing tends to take a liberal stance, appearing to suggest to the reader that young people can and should fight for their rights.

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Works by Paula Danziger with their own pages include:

• Amber Brown
• Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice?
• The Cat Ate My Gymsuit
• P.S. Longer Letter Later

Tropes found across her works:

• We Will All Be History Buffs in the Future: This Place Has No Atmosphere is set in the year 2057. When it's time to put on a School Play, the young students are all thoroughly familiar with Our Town, which to them would be nearly 120 years old. The protagonist also quotes The Rocky Horror Picture Show, from 1975, as if it were current.

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