NEWS, NEWS, NEWS!

Pete Johnson’s books have been shortlisted for three top regional prizes:

‘THE BAD SPY’S GUIDE’ (Corgi/Yearling) a comedy about a twelve-year-old boy who claims to be an undercover spy, has been shortlisted for The Southwark Children’s Book of the Year Award; ‘HOW EMBARRASSING IS THAT’ (Barrington Stoke) a comedy about a girl who thinks she has the most embarrassing parents in the world, has been shortlisted for The Leicester Best Book Award; and ‘2-POWER:THE KORSKI CODE’ (Puffin) a thriller about twins with very special powers, has been shortlisted for The Portsmouth Book Award (Best Shorter Novel of the year)

The winners for all three of these prizes will be announced in July. Meanwhile, ‘HOW TO TRAIN YOUR PARENTS’ has been selected by Denmark Book Club (Gyldendal) as their Children’s Book of the month for June.

NEW BOOKS

Pete Johnson‘s eagerly awaited new comedy ‘HOW TO GET FAMOUS’ is published on June 5th. This comedy, about a boy and a girl whose main ambition is to be famous, is highly topical and the book will generate many discussions.

Pete has also written a short story (‘HAPPY HALLOWEEN’) for ‘WOW 366’ –  a highly publicised collection of short stories (each no longer than 366 words) by top authors. Among the other authors is in this collection is Gordon Brown – yes, that one! Order it here

FIVE DAYS IN THE LIFE OF PETE JOHNSON

If you think writers stay at home all day, think again! Pete kept a diary during World Book Week. Read it here!

PETE JOHNSON SUPPORTS THE NATIONAL YEAR OF READING

Pete Johnson is a passionate supporter of libraries. And he has visited hundreds of schools and libraries over the past few years. He is excited by The National Year of Reading and was a guest speaker at the conference celebrating The National Year of Reading in Dorset in March. He will be giving a keynote address at Cambridgeshire Speaking and Listening Conference, ‘Tell Me More,’ at Girton College, Cambridge on 21st May.

Over the next few weeks Pete will also be visiting schools and libraries in Crawley, Twickenham, Wokingham, Solihull, Lowestoft (Book Mastermind Day) Enfield, Birmingham, Hayes, Broxbourne and St Albans.

"THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW TRULY FRIGHTENING CHILDREN’S BOOKS I’VE READ."

This is the opening line of a review of Pete Johnson’s horror classic: ‘The Ghost Dog’ on Amazon Customer reviews. The reviewer, A.T. (Rothbury) goes on: ‘Every paragraph is absolutely brimming with juicy, intrigue, with a very moving twist at the end.’ Click here to read more about 'The Ghost Dog'.

‘The Ghost Dog’ is also featured in the book ‘Ghost Trouble.’ This presents both of Pete’s award winning horror tales — ‘The Ghost Dog,’ and ‘The Creeper’ — in one bumper volume. Click here to read more about ‘Ghost Trouble’.

'HELP! I'M A CLASSROOM GAMBLER' WINS TOP PRIZE
 
At the SHEFFIELD CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD, 'Help! I'm a Classroom Gambler' was voted the Best Shorter Novel of the Year.  

Over 140 schools took part in the judging, with many of them voting online for the first time. Pete says: "The Sheffield Book Awards are always such a special event, with over 400 children attending. I was thrilled and honoured that they picked 'Help! I'm a Classroom Gambler' as their favourite read of the year."

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL PETE JOHNSON WEBSITE!

Pete Johnson's fiction provides a heady cocktail of 'compulsive readability' (The Times) and 'emotional truth' (The Bookseller). Inspired by Dodie Smith (they corresponded for over ten years), Pete began writing novels for teenagers that 'beg to be read and talked about' (Glasgow Herald) including The Cool Boffin, Ten Hours to Live, The Protectors and, most recently, the 'wickedly funny' (Mail on Sunday) Faking It, a comedy about a boy who can't get a girlfriend so invents an imaginary one.

He has also written some award-winning novels for younger readers, including The Ghost Dog, The Creeper, Rescuing Dad, and Traitor, which was short listed for Askews Torchlight Award and highly commended for the Sheffield Children's Book Award. His comedy How to Train your Parents 'should be compulsive reading for parents as well as children.' (Wendy Cooling, The Bookseller). It has become a best seller.

The thought-provoking Avenger won the West Sussex Children's Book of the Year Award and, most recently, Best Shorter Novel in the 2005 Sheffield Children's Book Awards.

His latest titles are Trust Me, I'm a Troublemaker, winner of the Calderdale Children's Book of the Year Award, The Hero Game, his first book published with an historical theme, Help! I'm a Classroom Gambler, and The Ex-Files.

Pete Johnson lives in St Albans, England. He is a movie fan - both of current films and British and American films from the 1940s and 1950s. He has been a film critic on BBC Radio One, as well as a film extra and teacher of English and Drama. He collects signed books, of which he has several hundred.

[Find out more in About Pete]

Find out here how many of Pete's books are being studied in schools and libraries. Or click here for information about Pete's visits and how to arrange one.