Paula DanzigerCritiques

Family

After enjoying the brief television series, I wanted to give these books a try, especially this one since it’s set at Christmas/Hanukkah. I haven’t read the other books that come before this one in the series, but this read just fine as a standalone.

As far as the holiday content, there’s a little crafting, a little shopping, some gift exchanges, etc., those were fun bits and I know this is a super short book to suit its intended audience and the story rightfully had more important things to deal with in few pages to do so, still I would have loved a smidge more of that festive feeling squeezed in throughout.

This excelled when it came to the emotional side of things, it genuinely captured how it feels to be a kid, whether it’s the pressure to keep up with her friends getting their ears pierced, the guilt plaguing Amber when she breaks the rules, or most poignant of all navigating the tricky feelings of divorce, a mom who doesn’t seem to even like her dad anymore, a dad moving into a new place, and a soon to be stepdad she loves even though she’d rather her parents were still together, all of that is really well conveyed here.

Amber's Dad has moved back to town, and she has complicated feelings about this. It's a cute slice of life, some sad feelings, some happy feelings, some bad behaviour, mostly muddling through.

Matthew Martin is anxiously awaiting his 10th birthday party, while harassing his sisters and all the girls in his 6th grade class.

What a Trip, Amber Brown is an interesting read for children's picture book lovers.

I didn't fall in love with this story like I had hoped. The trip and camping adventure sounded exciting, but the plot and characters were all over the place. I didn't see the point of the plot, other than everyone went on a trip and Amber got upset with her friend. The moral of the story seemed kind of weird and I felt like the story didn't really come to a full stop. It just felt very random to me.

Overall, it's a fun picture book to read and dive into if you're looking for another story.

Two out of five stars.

This book teachers empathy and can be a read aloud for 3 grade and up, I do believe that maybe some 2nd graders can enjoy it but it is a more complex book and requires to have an open mind.

5 copies

1 copy

I read this so often when I was ages seven through nine that the cover warped. Even as an adult--I can understand it much better, but -damn- it is still my childhood. My mom really was president of the PTA, but had three kids under the age of ten, and was a waitress until she started working at an elementary school. The dad in this book? Easily my dad. It took hours and hours for me to calm down after I finished. The author describes him in an afterward as tyrannical. Yes, and psychologically abusive hinting towards physical, and--oh, I just freakin' hated him. But I remember hiding this book from my dad because I was worried he'd realize he was the book-dad, and I didn't want him to hit me. I remember being so grateful and so scared when my mom read this out loud, the times she did, because surely she would realize she was the book-mom. And now that I'm an adult--I'm so, so glad I had this book as a kid. I'm so glad it's still in circulation, and so widely respected.

This is the sequel to The Cat Ate My Gymsuit. I don't remember if I liked it the first time I read it as a kid, but as an adult, it lost me. Too much angst, too much self-flagellation on Marcy's part, and the romance angle felt forced (mostly because the author skips the details and just focuses on the highlights). There's a lot of exaggeration of the themes in an effort to have the maximum impact but it mostly backfired for adult me.

The setting was great though, and my favourite parts were the times Danzinger builds the scenes around the girls of bunk 5. They stole every scene they were in and saved the book from total insipidness.½

Good, but a little too much diet culture.

Amber Brown is excited to be starting second grade--and a little nervous, too. But Amber Brown decides she's ready for whatever happens, and second grade had better be ready for Amber Brown!

Ambar Dorado will be 7 the next day and she can't wait to have a watch as a gift. The story has an illustration of a watch with all of its parts labeled.

An average story about a girls mom marrying her best friends dad. Kind of Dull.

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