Mal Peet

Mal Peet
Born	date of birth unknown Norfolk, England
Occupation	Novelist
Genres	Young adult Picture books

Mal Peet is an English author who writes mainly for young adults. His novels have won several awards, including the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

Biography

Peet grew up in a council estate in north Norfolk in a family that he describes as "emotionally impaired".^[1] He attended the Paston School^[2] and studied English and American Studies at the University of Warwick,^[3] after which he worked at a variety of jobs before becoming a novelist at a relatively late age. He lives in Devon with his wife, Elspeth Graham, and has three children.^[4]

His first novel, Keeper (2003), won the Branford Boase Award. His second, Tamar (2005), won the 2005 Carnegie Medal. In 2007 he published The Penalty, which was shortlisted for the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize. He won the 2009 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize with Exposure (2008), a modern re-telling of Shakespeare's Othello. Cloud Tea Monkeys (2010), a children's picture book written in conjunction with his wife and illustrated by Juan Wijngaard, is a modern folktale set in India. Life: An Exploded Diagram (2011) is his latest novel.^[5] All of his novels were published by Walker Books.

Susan Tranter writes that "Mal Peet's work is notable for its refusal to submit to categories – the constraints which label what a book should be about, and who it should appeal to. His books to date prove that successful literature for young readers doesn't have to be didactic, or have overtly youthful themes, or even centre on young characters. It is the quality of the writing which is, ultimately, the most important thing." Peet says he is skeptical of books written specifically for teenagers, saying they are prone to being condescending.^[3]

Bibliography

• Keeper - Walker - 2003
• Tamar - Walker - 2005
• The Penalty - Walker - 2006
• Exposure - Walker - 2008
• Cloud Tea Monkeys (with Elspeth Graham) - Walker - 2010
• Life: An Exploded Diagram - Walker - 2011

Awards and nominations

• (2004) - Branford Boase Award - Keeper
• (2004) - Hampshire Book Award - (shortlisted) - Keeper
• (2005) - Nestlé Smarties Book Prize - (Bronze Award) - (9–11 years category) - Keeper
• (2005) - Carnegie Medal - Tamar
• (2006) - Wirral Paper Back of the Year - Tamar
• (2009) - Guardian Children's Fiction Prize - Exposure

References

1. ^ Mal Peet. Walker Books. Accessed 5 July 2011. Archived 5 July 2011.
2. ^ Goodnow, Cecilia. "A powerful late start for young-adult book author Mal Peet". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2 March 2007. Accessed 5 July 2011. Archived 5 July 2011.
3. ^ ^{a b} Mal Peet. contemporarywriters.com. Accessed 5 July 2011. Archived 5 July 2011.
4. ^ Bradbury, Lorna. "A writer's life: Mal Peet". The Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2006. Accessed 5 July 2011. Archived 5 July 2011.
5. ^ For reviews, see:
   • Rosoff, Meg. "Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet – review". The Guardian. 11 June 2011. 5 July 2011.
   • Tucker, Nicolas. "Life: An Exploded Diagram, By Mal Peet". The Independent. 19 June 2011. Accessed 5 July 2011.

Further reading

• Interview with Mal Peet. achuka.co.uk. July 2004. Accessed 5 July 2011.

External links

• Mal Peet at contemporarywriters.com
• Walker page for Mal Peet

Persondata
Name	Peet, Mal
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Norfolk, England
Date of death
Place of death