ELIZABETH AND TARA SERIES

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.

Everyone Else's Parents Said Yes

"Danziger once again combines insight and humor in her first book for younger readers." -Publishers Weekly

Make Like a Tree and Leave

"Danziger's witty sequel to Remember Me to Harold Square has all of the zip of that novel." -Publishers Weekly

Earth to Matthew

"Danziger's insight into adolescents is keen and compassionate, yet thoroughly humorous" -School Library Journal

Not for a Billion Gazillion Dollars

"Beneath the lighthearted surface are messages sure to strike responses from many children." -Kirkus Reviews

"Everyone Else's Parents Said Yes"

Grades: 4-6

Series: Matthew Martin

Year Published: 1989

If 10-year-old Matthew would stop bickering with his sister, pulling pranks on the girls in his class and fighting with his best friend, his sleepover birthday party would be a complete success. Matthew's health-nut mother is actually allowing him to have junk food, and his eight friends are going to bring great presents. What more could he want? How about a truce with the sixth-grade girls who have declared war on him? They threaten to ruin the party he has been anticipating for weeks, until Matthew finally swallows his pride. He and the girls reach an agreement, and Matthew's 11th birthday celebration turns out to be even better than he expected.

"Danziger once again combines insight and humor in her first book for younger readers (and her first starring a boy); her characters come alive through natural dialogue and universal experiences." -Publishers Weekly

"Reproductions of computer-produced invitations, lists, and letters will immediately attract young computer enthusiasts. While for younger readers than her previous books, Everyone Else's Parents Said Yes continues to reflect Danziger's awareness of what students of a certain age are like and what appeals to them. Sibling rivalry and parent/child conflicts are humorously yet realistically portrayed in this zany but basically credible story of the five days leading up to and culminating in Matthew's 11th birthday celebration. " -School Library Journal

"Make Like a Tree and Leave"

Ages: 9 - 11

Series: Matthew Martin

Year Published: 1990

Illustrated by: Mike Wimmer

Sixth-grader Matthew gets into trouble at home and at school, spars with his older sister, and helps save an elderly friend's property from the hands of a developer.

Kendra and her family rendezvous in London for the Christmas holidays with relatives and friends, including her long-distance boyfriend. The adults concoct a scavenger hunt in the city, providing readers with a refreshing and amusing perspective on British culture. Danziger's comfortable command of dialogue and word play animate a credible story of first love in this sequel to Remember Me to Harold Square

"Earth to Matthew"

Grades: 4-8

Series: Matthew Martin

Year Published: 1991

Matthew Martin finds himself on the threshold of becoming a teenager in suburban America and experiences conflicting emotions regarding his future...

Matthew Martin finds himself on the threshold of becoming a teenager in suburban America and experiences conflicting emotions regarding his future. Completing sixth grade, Matthew notices that ``everything is getting so complicated...everything around him is changing'': older sister Amanda is hostile and rebellious; his parents appear publicly in weird costumes for his mother's message-delivery service. Here, although Matthew's thoughts are still as funny as they were in Everyone Else's Parents Said Yes (1989), his comments and actions are more restrained. He battles with Amanda and classmate Vanessa, but he notices a change in his feelings about girls; he goes on his first date with Jil, but then, during a class trip, peer pressure causes them to quarrel as they struggle to maintain a balance between time together and with others. As sixth grade ends, Matthew ``can't wait to see where [Spaceship Earth takes him next.

"This third book about 11-year-old Matthew Martin and his friends is a total triumph and complete delight. Danziger's insight into adolescents is keen and compassionate, yet thoroughly humorous" -School Library Journal

"Beneath the lighthearted surface are messages sure to strike responses from many children. Danziger explains that ``ecosystems deal with how one thing affects another''; her book dramatizes the definition in terms of relationships as well as the environment. This third Matthew story stands alone, but will have readers asking for the others." -Kirkus Reviews

"Not for a Billion Gazillion Dollars"

Ages: 9 - 11

Series: Matthew Martin

Year Published: 1992

With his girlfriend, Jill, away for the summer, Matthew has plenty of time to earn some money. Not only is he in debt to his parents, but he also owes money to most of his...

With his girlfriend, Jill, away for the summer, Matthew has plenty of time to earn some money. Not only is he in debt to his parents, but he also owes money to most of his classmates, and he desperately wants to buy a new computer program. Matthew's full of money-making ideas, like renting out his sister's room, but will his wild schemes end up making more trouble than money?

"Danziger's vibrant narrative, characteristically overflowing with puns, jibes and jokes, once again demonstrates that this talented author knows what makes kids tick -- and what makes them laugh." -Publishers Weekly