Pete Johnson

IT’S HERE AT LAST!

Pete Johnson’s most eagerly awaited title ever, ‘HOW TO GET FAMOUS,’ has finally hit the bookshops. A perceptive and hilarious look at fame through the eyes of two very different characters: Tobey and Georgia.

The book has already earned praise from leading children’s book reviewer, Jake Hope. He writes: “I have very much enjoyed reading ‘How to Get Famous.’ The means by which Pete Johnson explores how our actions affect and influence others, is achieved with a subtlety that belies the more gregarious elements of Tobey and Georgia’s fight to find Fame.”

It has also been chosen as Book of the month in 4Girlz Magazine Book club.

Pete launched ‘HOW TO GET FAMOUS’ at a conference recently, held at Girton College, Cambridge, which was supported by the Norfolk Children’s Book Centre. Future ‘HOW TO GET FAMOUS’ events include a visit to Steyning Festival, with leading bookshop, Bowers, on Wednesday 4th June. Week beginning 9th June there are special events in Sheffield with another of Pete’s favourite bookshops, Rhyme and Reason, followed by a visit to Durham Libraries.

Pete also continues to support The National Year of Reading with events in June and July at Felixstowe, Peterborough, The City of London Academy, Southwark and St Olave’s Grammar School, Orpington.

Look out for more ‘HOW TO GET FAMOUS’ news soon.

RIVETING READS

A new list of ‘Riveting Reads’ has been compiled at the request of ministers in an attempt to encourage more reading. The list, compiled by the School Library Association, wanted to highlight some of the best books that have been published in recent years.

Among their recommended reads is ‘The Bad Spy’s Guide’ (Here and Now Category)

The review reads: "Pete Johnson writes very fine books for the young and always seems to be in tune with their thoughts, attitudes and concerns. In this book a mild-seeming new boy claims to have been recruited as a spy and persuades James Bond and Sherlock Holmes fan, Tasha to let him use her house to watch over some neighbours. Parent and child relationships and interaction are lightly handled in the context of the story. And the short chapters make it all very reader- friendly. As well as the unfolding mystery, there’s the writer’s usual observant wit and sparklingly fitting dialogue."

WHICH IS PETE JOHNSON'S GREATEST BOOK?
Click here to find out!

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.

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!

"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’.

Pete with young voters '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.

covers 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.