Norma Fox Mazer's works in elementary school literature

¶ … Norma Fox Mazer

While most of the books students read in school seem to be written by men, one of the most popular authors of books for young adults was actually a woman. Norma Fox Mazer wrote more than 30 books during her career before dying at the age of 78 from brain cancer. Some of Mazer's more popular titles are "After the Rain" and "When She Was Good" and while both books were written by the same author each one covers very different themes. In "After the Rain," which was published in 1987, Mazer tells the story of a teenaged girl named Rachel who is struggling with self-esteem at school and family issues at home. Rachel learns to appreciate her own uniqueness by forming a bond with her grandfather, a tough old man who is unfortunately dying from an illness. The lesson of "After the Rain" is to appreciate the time we have with our families, and to appreciate ourselves no matter what. In "When She Was Good," which was published in 2000, Mazer writes about a young girl named Em Thurkill who is faced with a very difficult situation at home. Because Em's parents both have serious problems, with her Dad being an alcoholic and her Mom being depressed, she is forced to grow up early and Mazer makes her story very realistic throughout the book.

Mazer was born in 1931 in New York City, and she began life as Norma Diane Fox. After marrying Harry Mazer in 1950, the couple soon began their writing careers, publishing short stories and articles in local magazines. Mazer found her true calling in 1971 by publishing her first novel for young people, which was titled "I, Trissy." This book showed a young girl dealing with the emotional pain of her parents separating by typing her thoughts on an old typewriter, and was the first of many popular books by Mazer which featured young girls as the protagonist. Mazer's husband Harry also became a popular children's book author, and the couple continued to write amazing stories throughout their long marriage. They even had a daughter named Anne who also writes books for young people, so the Mazer's are a very literary family. Norma Fox Mazer also wrote books with her husband, with "The Solid Gold Kid" and "Bright Days, Stupid Nights" some of the titles she co-wrote with Harry. Along with writing her own stories, Mazer was a writing teacher at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.