For Your Consideration: On the Passing of Paula Danziger

ALAN Review, Winter 2005 by Weiss, M Jerry

In 1972, Dr. Maria Schantz, chair of the Reading Department at Montclair State College, invited me to teach a course in adolescent literature. I accepted, and on the first night of class, 1 was greeted by a young woman who told me she had already taken the course for credit with Dr. Schantz, but she wanted permission to sit in to see what I was going to do. That young woman was Paula Danziger.

During that semester I learned to adjust to some of the "antics" of Paula until ... I had assigned the students to read Mildred Lee's Sticks and Stones, a controversial novel for its time, about a group of teens who call a loner classmate a homosexual. In the story this leads to rumors and repercussions in the small town where the boy lives.

During a class discussion of the book, a male student stated, "I would never let any students of mine read such a book. It might give them ideas." At that point, Paula picked up her heavy, plastic pocketbook and threw it at him, and the class began to spiral out of control. I told Paula she was suspended for three weeks. "Go home. Read. Write."

For me, those were the three loneliest weeks of that class. When Paula returned, she handed me a package with her writings. I took the package home, read what she has written, and laughed a great deal. The following class meeting I had her read her work to the entire class, and they applauded loudly. I told Paula if she finished writing the book, which she already had done, I'd try to find a publisher.

She brought me her finished manuscript a couple of weeks later, and I liked it very much. I took it to one editor friend who was not amused. So I showed it to another editor who loved it. The book, The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, was published in 1974, and thirty years later is still in print and doing very well. Paula and my family became very good friends. She was wise, witty, and wonderfully wacky at times. She was most caring and compassionate. We shall miss her.

So Many Good Books; So Little Time!

As ALAN Review readers, we recognize the advantage of bringing newer books into classrooms to meet the diverse and changing interests, needs, and abilities of students. Through reading this publication and by attending conferences, many of us are introduced to new books and methods and become familiar with many authors who can touch the minds of young and old.

A common problem in many English classrooms is the teaching load consisting of too much material to be covered with too many students. There are teachers who resist change. Reports from consultants and authors making school visits tell us that teachers often say they are satisfied with what they have been using for many years, and they don't have the time to add anything new. Some admit they are not willing to make changes. As one teacher said recently, "I just don't have the time to read more books." So while we are embarked on a campaign to LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND; however, are we also on a campaign to LEAVE NO TEACHER BEHIND?

Good books make meaningful reading happen. One parent told me that she was thrilled when her son, who seemingly had reading problems, discovered lronman by Chris Crutcher and was turned on to sports books. He really hadn't known that there were sports books like this around. A good librarian then gave him a copy of Slam by Walter Dean Myers. He zoomed through that book. It's interesting that few teachers have a unit of sports or use sports books to hook their students.

A book such as David A. Adler's splendid biography, George Washington: An Illustrated Biography (Holiday House), shows us a true leader for his time and puts politics and patriotism in a perspective worthy of study. Betsy Harvey Kraft's Theodore Roosevelt: Champion of the American Spirit (Clarion) offers more insight into the American Presidency as the reader witnesses Roosevelt's strong feelings about women's rights and a futile attempt to "reform the court system" so that if the public didn't like the ruling by a judge, they would have the right to challenge the verdict. An interesting idea?

Wade Hudson has done a remarkable job in Powerful Words (Scholastic). More than thirty African Americans from colonial days to contemporary times speak out against racism and slavery to show how African Americans have contributed so much to their community and to American history. Commentators include Benjamin Banneker, Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, W. E. B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, among others.

As English teachers we are concerned with language and lives, fiction and nonfiction. Jordan Sonnenblick, in his novel, Dreams, Girls, and Dangerous Pie (Daybue Insights), reveals the strong feelings a young teenage boy has for his younger brother who has leukemia, and at the same time, his frustrations at watching his parents focus most of their attention on the ailing child and seemingly overlooking him as "the other son." He has interests, questions, needs too. A very powerful story.

Three books of poetry caught my eye.