Paula Danziger Quotes & Sayings

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. — Paula Danziger

It's just about impossible to be perfect all the time. In fact, some days it's hard to do anything right. But sometimes things go really well. There are a lot of new things to learn, a lot of new rules and regulations. — Paula Danziger

I know I'm not a perfect dad, Amber. But I'm trying."
You don't have to be perfect, I say."Just be my dad. — Paula Danziger

Mrs. Holt, however, is grinning. "I have a wonderful announcement," she says. "No practice test today!" Jimmy Russell shouts. "No tests at all!" Bobby Clifford shouts. Mrs. Holt's grin gets a little tight and she says, "Be careful, boys, or I might decide to have two practice tests today." Bobby and Jimmy cover their mouths with their hands. Lately school has been about as much fun as packing. That's because statewide testing is in a few weeks. Mrs. Holt and our principal, Mr. Robinson, have made it clear that doing well on the statewide tests is REALLY IMPORTANT. — Paula Danziger

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. — Paula Danziger

Sometimes it's easier to show than it is to tell. — Paula Danziger

Pistachio nuts, the red ones, cure any problem. — Paula Danziger

Got to sit in this big uncomfortable chair with my head leaning back in this groove. The hair washer must have — Paula Danziger

Mistakes are growth, and we learn not to do it again. But it doesn't make you a terrible person. That's important to me. — Paula Danziger

You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose ... but you can't pick your friends' noses.
Well, I didn't get to pick my parents.
I am glad that I have them, though.
I just wish that I wouldn't have to spend the rest of my life picking one of them and not the other. - Amber Brown — Paula Danziger

I feel like I'm addicted to the printed word. — Paula Danziger

definitely not best friends — Paula Danziger

I want to keep meeting new people, enlarging my circle of friends. I have great friends now ... really good people. But I'm always ready for what comes next. — Paula Danziger

I love them, but sometimes it would have been nice to be able to b e a kid who didn't have to act like an adult so much of the time. - Amber Brown — Paula Danziger

Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don't forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth. — Paula Danziger

I try to be careful because technology changes so much over the years. But some things don't change. Kids and parents have disagreements, kids try to manipulate, parents try to sit down with rules and regs. That part never changes. — Paula Danziger

I think my books talk about kids learning to like and respect themselves and each other. You can't write a message book; you just tell the best story you know how to tell. — Paula Danziger

Of baking pans so that we can make individual brownies with — Paula Danziger

I didn't expect to be doing a whole bunch of Amber Browns. And because it was just one book, and the father had moved away, I didn't realize I was going to have to deal more with shared custody, divorce and all those issues. — Paula Danziger

I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that my books have never gone out of print - none of them. — Paula Danziger

I'm learning to be a part of a team, even if the team doesn't always to what I want. - Amber Brown — Paula Danziger

In my next life, I want to be tall and thin, parallel park and make good coffee. But for now, I have lots of stuff to work out in my life, but I'll have that until the day I die. I want to write more books. — Paula Danziger

He maybe be a jerk ... but he is my jerk ... he is my father. - Amber Brown — Paula Danziger

When my father would yell at me, I told myself someday I'd use it in a book. — Paula Danziger

I tried to write with someone else once before, but it was not successful. — Paula Danziger

I made the choice long ago to write about real life. And life is both serious and funny. — Paula Danziger

It's not easy being so frightened of everything. And when I think of how much I've improved in the last year, I wonder when I'll ever get finished with making changes and be really grown up. — Paula Danziger

Fighting with your best friend is NO fun. — Paula Danziger

I deal with unhappy marriages a lot. I've never been married, I'm single. — Paula Danziger

I wish I had had my books when I was a kid, I do. — Paula Danziger

Normally, I name my characters after famous comedians. — Paula Danziger

The books are funny and sad, and that's what people respond to. — Paula Danziger

We spend our whole lives recovering from high school. — Paula Danziger

None of my characters seem to have had sex yet - I haven't written about that. And I wouldn't want to deal with what's happening in Oregon - the school shootings. — Paula Danziger