Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Thames Does Not Rhyme With James by Paula Danzinger

My classroom is being painted this week so I am temporarily teaching out of the library. I don't get into the school library very often and my visits to the children's section at the public library are guided by finding good picture books for my kids. As my eyes looked over the shelves, the name Paula Danzinger jumped out at me. I loved her books when I was a pre-teen. There were some old favorites there as well as a few new to me. I realised that this one (Thames Does Not Rhyme With James) was a sequel to my favorite of hers (Remember Me To Harold Square). She had written and published it after I had grown out of her books. So I grabbed it off the shelf and enjoyed a trip through nostalgia for about an hour. I really enjoyed it. I read a book like this and I wonder why more pre-teens don't pick up her books. You read it and it sounds like a teen age girl thinks and speaks. It was very well done.

1 comment:

Sue Jackson said...

I haven't read Danzinger since my teens either - I should!

If you're interested in other contemporary writers for teens, you might like some of the books I've reviewed at www.greatbooksforkidsandteens.com

Thanks for reminding me of an old favorite!

Sue