Danziger was born in Washington, D.C. to Samuel and Carolyn Danziger. Though she struggled in school as a child, she attended Montclair State University in New Jersey and earned a degree in 1967. She was a middle school teacher in New Jersey from 1967-1978 while studying for a Master's degree. Her studies were interrupted when she was in a car crash, where a drunk driver hit her car, and she slammed her head against the front window which caused her to have brain damage. In 1978 she left teaching to write full-time. 