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Summary
Summary
Beloved Amber Brown returns in a new book!
Amber can't wait to be Best Child when her mom and Max get married, but planning a wedding comes with lots of headaches. Amber can't find the right dress, her dad keeps making mean cracks about Max, and Mom and Max have very different ideas about how much this wedding should cost. Her mother even suggests they go to city hall and skip the party altogether! Even though adults can be a lot of work, Amber is determined to be the best Best Child ever. She helps find the perfect location, makes her dad shape up, and, with the help of best friend Justin, gives the perfect wedding speech.
Paula Danziger called Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy her best friend and her other best friend, and this close connection enabled them to lovingly capture Amber Brown's voice, sense of humor, big-heartedness, and her fondness for puns.
Author Notes
Bruce Coville was born in Syracuse, New York, on May 16, 1950. He spent one year at Duke University in North Carolina. Coville started working seriously at becoming a writer when he was seventeen. He was not able to start selling stories right away, so he had many other jobs, including toymaker, gravedigger, cookware salesman, and assembly line worker. Eventually, Coville became an elementary teacher, and worked with second and fourth graders.
Coville married Katherine Dietz an artist, and they began trying to create books together. It wasn't until 1977 that they finally sold their first book, The Foolish Giant. They joined together on two other books after that, Sarah's Unicorn and The Monster's Ring, and followed them with Goblins in the Castle, Aliens Ate My Homework, and The World's Worst Fairy Godmother.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The star of Paula Danziger's series that began in 1994 with Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon makes an exuberant reappearance in this installment, written by two close friends of the late author. Coville (the My Teacher Is an Alien books) and Levy (the Something Queer Mysteries) don't miss a beat as they channel the voice of Danziger's funny, acerbic, and pun-loving heroine. Throughout the story, happiness and sadness are closely entwined for nine-year-old Amber: she's thrilled that her divorced mother is marrying big-hearted Max, but uneasy that "for the first time in my life something huge is happening and Dad isn't even a tiny part of it." She struggles with this and other wedding dilemmas, including picking the perfect dress and making a toast, but she finds solutions with characteristic resolve and resourcefulness. Beyond the wedding story line, the authors deliver a sensitive portrait of a child handling divorce, especially in cruel offhand remarks her parents occasionally make about each other, which cause Amber heartache. Coville and Levy do splendid service both to this character and her creator. Ages 8-12. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Coville and Levy, friends of the late Danziger, continue her legacy with this new Amber Brown story. Here the topic is Amber's mom's remarriage--an event fraught with practical and emotional complications. As always, Amber navigates her days with humor. The authors get the tone just right, and Amber is as spunky as ever. Breezy black-and-white line drawings enhance the chapter book's mood. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Paula Danziger died in 2004, but her Amber Brown series finds new life with this book. With the backing of Danziger's estate, Coville and Levy pick up where she left off: Amber is still in fourth grade, her mother and Max are planning their wedding, and her father remains unhappy about this development. Coville and Levy succeed in capturing Amber's can-do spirit as well as her mixed emotions: I love my dad. I love Mom and Max. I just don't love having to think about all of them at the same time. Young readers, especially those going through similar tumult, will appreciate how Amber copes with her feelings, solves some problems that the adults can't quite manage, and comes to terms with bigger issues that she can't control. Longtime Amber Brown illustrator Ross returns with line drawings that show Amber, lively as ever, turning from a kid into a preteen. The series will continue with additional books in fall 2013 and 2014. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Amber is an indelible character in children's lit, and there is already heavy anticipation for this new continuation of her story, created by longtime friends of the late Danziger.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-This 10th book in the series was written by two of Danziger's friends after her death in 2004. Amber's original voice rings true, delivering plenty of wordplay and hilarious, wide-eyed observations. Major changes are afoot for the child and her family; her mother and Max are getting married. Amber is thrilled to be in the wedding (she's going to be the "best child"), but she is disturbed by the ups and downs as Max and her mom debate whether they should have a big party or simply go to City Hall. Meanwhile, she has to deal with her dad's snarky comments about Max, find the dress, and come up with a toast. Ever insightful and resilient, Amber faces her challenges head on and recognizes that change is inevitable and difficult. The wedding, of course, is lovely, and Amber shines. Occasional artwork adds to the characters' personalities. This lovable nine-year-old will appeal to current Amber Brown fans and undoubtedly recruit new ones.-Amanda Struckmeyer, Middleton Public Library, Madison, WI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Amber Brown fans will rejoice; against all odds, their favorite protagonist is back. After Paula Danziger passed away in 2004, it looked like readers would never find out how things would work out for Amber as her mother faced remarriage and a move to a new house. Through the efforts of two of Danziger's author friends, Amber has returned, with her funny, often slightly ironic, first-person voice that perfectly captures the tribulations and triumphs of the middle-grade years. Assigned to create a personal budget for a million dollars, she sets aside $25,000 to provide for "anti-nose-picking therapy for Fredrich Allen," a classmate. He becomes less easy to mock when she gets to know him better, since it turns out her mother and fianc Max are going to get married at the Allens' summer camp to save money, a plan Amber dreamed up. What's harder for Amber is trying to find comfortable middle ground between her father and her mother's wedding plans. She's trying not to take sides but sometimes finds herself caught between them, even in their mostly amicable split, a problem she good-naturedly deals with, setting a fine example for kids in the same position. Simple, often humorous illustrations completely capture the gentle spirit of the tale. Fully faithful to the voice Danziger gave Amber Brown, this visit with an old friend will totally satisfy readers. (afterword by Danziger's niece, "the real Amber Brown") (Fiction. 7-11)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Amber Brown isn't looking for just any dress. It has to be THE dress. "How about this one?" Aunt Pam says. "It's not pink." "No, it's outer-space green," I say. The dress is iridescent, which means shiny. And yes, I like shiny, but this one looks like an alien ate something that didn't agree with it. I give Aunt Pam my "I can't believe you expect me to wear this dress" face. It's a face I've been making all day. Aunt Pam is getting exasperated. Mom is getting exasperated. The sales woman is getting exasperated......and we've been to six stores before we even got to her. I, Amber Brown, am exasperated too. I am also disgruntled, peeved, and put out. I have nothing to wear. I don't mean that I'm naked. But now that we are having the wedding, I must, must, MUST have THE dress! It's not going to be alien green. Excerpted from Amber Brown Is Tickled Pink by Bruce Coville, Elizabeth Levy, Paula Danziger All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
