Mal Peet grew up in North Norfolk, later moving to south-west England to work in a variety of jobs before turning full-time to writing and illustrating in the early 1990s - his cartoons have appeared in a number of magazines including Time Out and Private Eye. Since 2003, Peet has established a strong and distinctive voice in young adult fiction with the 2005 Carnegie Medal winning Tamar, a moving tale of two men engaged in secret operations during World War II in Holland, and his popular series featuring top South American sports journalist Paul Faustino who features in Keeper (2003), The Penalty (2006) and his most recent novel Exposure (2008). Faustino is an investigative reporter in the contemporary world of sports, specifically football, and his stories also feature historical narratives surrounding slavery, the occult and the effect of the media on people’s lives. His visit is supported by Walker Books.
Read a review of Mal Peet's Tamar from The New York Times
BOOKS
Keeper
"And you found it, this thing you were looking for?"
It was darker now, and the city below Faustino's office was a jazzy dance of neon signs and traffic. The big man went to the window and looked down at it all, spreading his large hands on the glass. "No," he said. "It found me."
When Paul Faustino of La Nacion flips on his tape recorder for an exclusive interview with El Gato -- the phenomenal goalkeeper who single-handedly brought his team the World Cup -- the seasoned reporter quickly learns that this will be no ordinary story. Instead, the legendary El Gato ("The Cat") quietly narrates a spellbinding tale that begins in a mythic corner of the South American rain forest, where a ghostly but very real mentor, the Keeper, emerges to teach the gangly boy the most thrilling secrets of the game. Combining vivid imagery and heart-stopping action, this evocative, strikingly ethereal novel about loyalty, passion, and magic will haunt readers, regardless of their love for soccer, long after the story is ended. An enthralling story of a poor and gawky kid who mysteriously becomes the world's greatest goalkeeper - a seamless blend of magic realism and exhilarating soccer action.
Tamar
When her grandfather dies, Tamar inherits a box containing a series of clues and coded messages. Out of the past, another Tamar emerges, a man involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland half a century before. His story is one of passionate love, jealousy, and tragedy set against the daily fear and casual horror of the Second World War -- and unraveling it is about to transform Tamar’s life forever. From acclaimed British sensation Mal Peet comes a masterful story of adventure, love, secrets, and betrayal in time of war, both past and present.
The Penalty
As the city of San Juan pulses to summer’s sluggish beat, its teenage soccer prodigy, El Brujito, the Little Magician, vanishes without a trace -- right after he misses a penalty kick and loses a big game for his team. Paul Faustino, South America’s top sports reporter, is reluctantly drawn into the mystery of the athlete’s disappearance. As a story of corruption and murder unfolds, Faustino is forced to confront the bitter history of slavery and the power of the occult. A deftly woven mystery flush with soccer and suspense, this gripping novel is a thrilling read not to be missed. From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing soccer star, occult secrets, and the dark history of slavery.
Exposure
The third Paul Faustino novel by multi-award-winning Mal Peet. A massive soccer star has it all, but someone is plotting his downfall...
Revered as a national hero … married to the desirable Desmerelda … cherished by the media … soccer star, Otello, has it all. But a sensational club transfer sparks a media frenzy, and when he is wrongly implicated in a scandal, the footballer’s life turns into a tragic spiral of destruction. South America’s top sports journalist, Paul Faustino, witnesses the power of the media in making and breaking people's lives.