Peter

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book of Coming of age and Coming Out!
Review: 'Peter' is an excellently written book about teenager named Peter that goes through a long period of self discovery. 'Peter' starts out with the lead character being a homophobe along with his family and friends. However, he meets his brother Vince's friend David.

David is a good looking, rich 20 year old that Peter begins to have weird feelings and dreams about. He must come to terms and grips with these feelings.

I highly recommend this book to all boys that are in the self-discovery phase. This book is a bit hard to understand at times as it is written with a great deal of Australian slang, but you get the hang of it pretty quick.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book of Coming of age and Coming Out!
Review: 'Peter' is an excellently written book about teenager named Peter that goes through a long period of self discovery. 'Peter' starts out with the lead character being a homophobe along with his family and friends. However, he meets his brother Vince's friend David.

David is a good looking, rich 20 year old that Peter begins to have weird feelings and dreams about. He must come to terms and grips with these feelings.

I highly recommend this book to all boys that are in the self-discovery phase. This book is a bit hard to understand at times as it is written with a great deal of Australian slang, but you get the hang of it pretty quick.

Rating:
Summary: I hope Kate Walker will keep herself busy writing more!
Review: Although I am a frequent Amazon.com shopper, I actually bought this book from a vendor at the Anchorage PrideFest gay pride festival. I was absolutely riveted by the book and finished it in one day. The book tells the story of Peter Dawson, who is in the early stages of coming out. Peter just wants what most young men his age want, to fit in with his friends and ride his motorcycle. Young and naive, he is quick to dismiss some people prematurely, including his brother Vince, some of whom turn out to be ok. (He is right about others) Peter's life becomes more complicated when he meets David, a gay friend of his straight brother - a unique twist for a book - and has his stereotypes of gays shattered. At the same time he comes to realize that his own assumptions about "who he is supposed to be," while right for many of his friends and his brother, isn't his reality. When Peter finally acknowledges his own destiny, it is David who ultimately comes through for him, but not in the overly sexual, "Cinderella" fashion that many other books take. The story was moving and is not only a must read, but also a must have for any P-FLAG or GLSEN library. Hopefully Kate Walker will keep herself busy writing many more books. It once again proves, as with Patricia Nell Warren, that many of the best books about gay men are written by women. Hit the "Add To Shopping Cart" button for this one - you'll be glad you did!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: I was glad to see that "Peter" was back in print. When I first read it, I was very impressed. It explores coming out without sentimentality, gay bashing without getting too violent, and feelings without getting maudlin.

Peter Dawson is a typical boy. He likes dirt-biking, fast cars, and photography. (He has his own darkroom.) Then one day he notices that he is very attracted to his older brother's best friend. Only, his brother's best friend is gay. He begins to wonder what this says about him. He tries to get advice from a youth hotline. When he finds that there is no straight answer forthcoming, he tests himself by looking at pictures in a gay magazine. In short, he does everything that a boy, alone, without suport, can do to find out about himself. The only thing of which he is really sure is that he can't share his doubts with his parents or his friends.

The story is told with sensitivity and compassion. Kate Walker must have had a friend go through all of this. She captures the picture almost perfectly.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: I was glad to see that "Peter" was back in print. When I first read it, I was very impressed. It explores coming out without sentimentality, gay bashing without getting too violent, and feelings without getting maudlin.

Peter Dawson is a typical boy. He likes dirt-biking, fast cars, and photography. (He has his own darkroom.) Then one day he notices that he is very attracted to his older brother's best friend. Only, his brother's best friend is gay. He begins to wonder what this says about him. He tries to get advice from a youth hotline. When he finds that there is no straight answer forthcoming, he tests himself by looking at pictures in a gay magazine. In short, he does everything that a boy, alone, without suport, can do to find out about himself. The only thing of which he is really sure is that he can't share his doubts with his parents or his friends.

The story is told with sensitivity and compassion. Kate Walker must have had a friend go through all of this. She captures the picture almost perfectly.

Rating:
Summary: Still great, a decade after its first publication
Review: One of the glories of Kate Walker's "Peter" is the distinctive, realistic voice of its 15-year-old narrator. Peter is every bit the teenaged firecracker, making the kind of observations that anyone who has ever been that age can relate to. There is humor and poignancy in his musings about others and their perceptions of him. It doesn't matter if you're from Australia, the U.S., or elsewhere -- this kid has the same wariness of adults, tussles with his older brother, and struggles over friendship, sex, and love. Those struggles come powerfully to the forefront as Peter gets to know David, the charismatic 20-year-old gay friend of his older brother.

American readers will have to adjust a bit to the Aussie references and lingo, but Walker's writing is such that even without firsthand experience with the particulars you know what she's referring to. Similarly with all the descriptions of dirtbike riding -- Walker's prose lets you smell the smoky exhaust and hear the high-pitched buzz of the engines as they strain to climb a steep hill. You don't need to be a rider yourself to get drawn into this well-imagined world.

The most important part of the book, of course, is the story it tells of Peter and his reaction to David. What starts as curiosity about what it means to be gay gradually grows into fascination and finally a keen, trembling infatuation. Peter's toughguy friends seem to sense that something is going on with him (or maybe he's just imagining that they do?), and his attempts to cope with all the confusion lead Peter into some awkward encounters with girls. Eventually he is on the outs with his longtime best friend and contemplating every kind of escape -- Should he become a priest? Run away? He attempts to disguise his vulnerability with posturing and fist-fights, but as he begins to accept at least the possibility that he and David might have something in common, he slowly comes to grips with who he is.

The last section of the book, where Peter tries to take control of the situation and approaches David to act on his attraction to him, packs a tremendous emotional wallop. By this point, events in the story have created dramatic tension on levels aside from the merely sexual. Wisely, rather than turn the scene into one based solely on physical desire, Walker makes it about what matters even more -- Peter's confusion, his sense of isolation, his desperate need for compassion, love, and understanding. His ultimate emotional breakthrough and David's reaction are very moving.

The resolution of the story has nothing to do with sexual goings-on, so a reader looking for that kind of payoff is going to be disappointed. I think that the ending is just what it needs to be. Peter's story is about self-discovery. He learns that he must accept who he is before he can have a truly meaningful connection with another person. The final pages of the book leave you knowing that what he shared with David has made them closer. David will remain in his life, for now only as a mentor, but we also realize that Peter hasn't given up entirely. He still might pursue something more when he has come of age.

Characterizations in the book are vivid all around -- Peter himself; his wanna-be toughie friends; his older brother Vince; his open-minded mom and close-minded dad; his best friend Tony and Tony's sister Sophie; and Mrs. Minslow, the family housekeeper whose nosey nature ultimately pushes events to the brink.

This book was originally published in 1991, yet is still timely. Like all good literature, it holds its own outside of time and geography. Very, very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Peter Review
Review: Peter was a fair book. I enjoyed reading Peter, however the ending was not satisfying. As I have learned over the years from reading many books, you cannot decide how the book ends. This may seem strange, however, I was disappointed by the ending. Peter was not particularly my taste: a funny, suspenseful book with a firm closing ending. Rather, it is a real-life book teaching a lesson. Whether or not you pick this book is up to you, but if you are looking for a good book to read and found this book by picking at random, or it looked interesting, I recommend that you continue your search. I rate Peter with 2 to 3 stars.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars
Review: Peter was an excellent read. I couldn't stop reading it once I picked it up. David and Peter are both well defined characters and by adding Peter's biking peers in, Kate Walker really shows how real life is.

Rating:
Summary: Better towards the end
Review: Pure determination was the only reason I finished this book. I just cannot stand to not finish a book. It is not that this book is poorly written, it just isn't my tast I guess.

The story is about an Austrailian boy named Peter who enjoys riding dirt bikes. When Peter meets his brother's gay friend David, Peter starts wondering if he is gay. Unlike most books in this genre, it is not a coming out or coming of age story. This fact is the most refreshing aspect of the book.

Despite my mediocre rating, this book is still ok. I'm just not Austrailian or a dirt biker. You will probably find this book more interesting than me if you like dirt bikes or cars.