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'"I'm not scared of sex. I want it like crazy. But not like that, with someone I don't even like."
'Peter is fifteen, a typical Australian boy who enjoys riding his dirt bike and want to be a photographer. In his world, a boy is considered a man only if he obeys an unwritten set of rules: he must seek out danger, talk rough, get girls — any girl. If he's different, he's labeled a "poof."
'Pressured by his peers and by society to conform to this stereotyped male image, Peter feels both confused and repelled. His confusion, and his horror, increase when he finds that he is attracted to his brother's friend David, who is gay.
'Here is a daring, exceptionally honest novel about sexuality and the need to be true to oneself. Peter shares his every muddle and perception with us, and his candor just might help us find our own way.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille and sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Transgressions
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Messengers of Eros : Representations of Sex in Australian Writing 2009; (p. 39-59)'All serious art breaks the rules-there can be no innovation without some form of transgression. Yet the breaking of rules is not enough to produce serious art, and while the very focus of erotic writing seems to invite transgressions, these are not necessarily liberating or creative. When transgressions lie for the most part in the subject-matter, their translation into literary break-throughs is problematic, and they can in fact be undermined by writing that is bland, conventional and predictable. Literature, it bears perhaps repeating, is not the thing itself but a representation and thus a re-creation of it. Modes of representations are always ideologically loaded and, while the contemporary period has invented very little in terms of sexual practices, it has been able to innovate significantly in terms of representational practices. It remains to be seen what kind of articulation can be found between the two.' (p 39)
-
Kate Walker's 'Peter' Revisted
1996
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 40 no. 3 1996; (p. 15-16) -
The Children's Book of the Year Awards Shortlists
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 7 no. 2 1992; (p. 21-23)
— Review of The Magnificent Nose and Other Marvels 1991 selected work children's fiction ; Window 1991 single work picture book ; William Tell 1991 single work picture book ; Dog In, Cat Out 1991 single work picture book ; Enora and the Black Crane 1991 single work picture book ; Let the Celebrations Begin! 1991 single work picture book ; The Wolf 1991 single work picture book ; Rain Stones 1991 selected work children's fiction ; Misery Guts 1991 single work children's fiction ; Do Not Go Around the Edges : Poems 1990 selected work poetry autobiography ; The Sugar-Gum Tree 1991 single work children's fiction ; Change the Locks 1991 single work novel ; Del-Del 1991 single work novel ; Mandragora 1991 single work novel ; Letters from the Inside 1991 single work novel ; The House Guest 1991 single work novel ; Peter 1991 single work novel ; Hist! 1991 single work picture book -
[Review] Peter
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Horn Book Magazine , Jul/August vol. 68 no. 4 1992; (p. 467-468)
— Review of Peter 1991 single work novel -
Which Books are Best
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: The Goulburn Post , 24 July 1992; (p. 6)
— Review of Rain Stones 1991 selected work children's fiction ; Peter 1991 single work novel
-
Rewarding for Adolescents
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser Magazine , 26 October 1991; (p. 13)
— Review of Hostilities 1991 selected work short story ; The China Coin 1991 single work novel ; Change the Locks 1991 single work novel ; Peter 1991 single work novel ; Another Sparrow Singing 1991 single work children's fiction ; All in the Blue Unclouded Weather 1991 single work novel -
Forecasts
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , February vol. 70 no. 1012 1991; (p. 22)
— Review of Peter 1991 single work novel ; The Edge of the Rainforest 1991 single work novel -
Sensitive Look at Sexuality
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 25 May 1991; (p. 16)
— Review of Peter 1991 single work novel -
Sympathetic Insight into Adolescent Alienation
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 6 July 1991; (p. C8)
— Review of Peter 1991 single work novel ; Worms in the Night 1991 single work novel ; Piano Bay 1991 single work novel -
Tale of Young Burglars Has a Twist
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 25 July 1992; (p. C11)
— Review of Peter 1991 single work novel ; Del-Del 1991 single work novel ; The House Guest 1991 single work novel ; Change the Locks 1991 single work novel -
Peter
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 35 no. 3 1991; (p. 9-11) -
Kate Walker's 'Peter' Revisted
1996
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 40 no. 3 1996; (p. 15-16) -
Transgressions
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Messengers of Eros : Representations of Sex in Australian Writing 2009; (p. 39-59)'All serious art breaks the rules-there can be no innovation without some form of transgression. Yet the breaking of rules is not enough to produce serious art, and while the very focus of erotic writing seems to invite transgressions, these are not necessarily liberating or creative. When transgressions lie for the most part in the subject-matter, their translation into literary break-throughs is problematic, and they can in fact be undermined by writing that is bland, conventional and predictable. Literature, it bears perhaps repeating, is not the thing itself but a representation and thus a re-creation of it. Modes of representations are always ideologically loaded and, while the contemporary period has invented very little in terms of sexual practices, it has been able to innovate significantly in terms of representational practices. It remains to be seen what kind of articulation can be found between the two.' (p 39)
-
Islington Author's Unique Book on Award Short List
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 24 August 1991; (p. 6)
