Moore, Peter 1963-

Personal

Born 1963; married; wife's name Ellen; children: two children.

Addresses

Home—Ardley, NY.

Career

Writer and counselor. Guidance counselor in New York, NY. Also worked in fields of screenwriting, medicine, and education.

Writings

YOUNG-ADULT NOVELS

Blind Sighted, Viking (New York, NY), 2002.

Caught in the Act, Viking (New York, NY), 2005.

Sidelights

Middle-school guidance counselor Peter Moore is the author of the critically acclaimed young-adult novels Blind Sighted and Caught in the Act. In Blind Sighted, Moore introduces fifteen-year-old Kirk Tobak, a short, shy loner who lives unhappily with his alcoholic mother and her domineering boyfriend, finding relief only through his job at the local library. Despite his remarkable intelligence, Kirk is a chronic underachiever, and his poor academic performance and smart mouth land him in a remedial English class. To his surprise, the teen finds the emotional support he has always lacked through his relationship with a dedicated, caring teacher. He also develops an unlikely friendship a guitar-playing classmate named Glenn who finds Kirk's clever verse to be the perfect fit for his music. Around the same time, Kirk is offered an after-school job reading to Callie, a blind woman whose positive energy and understanding have a tremendous influence on the troubled teen. Just as Kirk's life changes for the better, however, his mother suddenly moves to California, leaving the teen to fend for himself.

Moore's storyline in Blind Sighted "is complex and subtle," observed School Library Journal contributor Mary R. Hofmann, the critic adding that the novel's protagonists "are sympathetic and real, the dilemmas heartfelt, and Kirk's first-person monologues and personal riffs are priceless." A contributor to Kirkus Reviews praised the "vividness, wry humor, and believ-

ability of the dialogue," and a Publishers Weekly critic similarly noted that "Moore's true-to-life dialogue and his handling of the characters' relationships will hit home with teens."

Moore's second novel, Caught in the Act, concerns high-school sophomore Ethan Lederer, an honor-role student whose life unravels after he falls under the influence of a manipulative newcomer. Though Ethan appears to have it all—a loving girlfriend, successful parents, and supportive friends—he is actually living a lie. Academically, his life is a mess and, struggling mightily with the work in his science class, he refuses to seek help lest he disappoint his parents, who envision an Ivy League education and a future in medicine for their son. Ethan's first love is the theater, however, and there he meets Lydia Krane, an exotic transfer student with a flair for the dramatic. The two teens form a strong bond while rehearsing for the spring play, a modern-day reinterpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. "Readers will empathize with the pressures Ethan feels at home," observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "and understand his attraction to someone who isn't ‘safe’ like his girlfriend, Jane." Lydia becomes increasingly menacing, however; when Ethan is caught cheating on his chemistry test, she blackmails the teacher, threatening him with an accusation of sexual harassment unless he gives Ethan an "A." After she also mysteriously persuades the drama teacher to choose Ethan for the lead in the play, opposite her, Ethan tries to end the relationship, but Lydia then turns on him, accusing him of being a stalker. Though some critics maintained that the novel's denouement somewhat stretches the bounds of credibility, Horn Book reviewer Christine M. Heppermann wrote that "even the toughest audience should applaud Ethan's courage at extricating himself from the tangle of lies." In Kirkus Reviews a contributor deemed the ending of Caught in the Act "a satisfyingly logical, killer conclusion," and Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman summed up the novel by writing that "Ethan's first-person narrative is a gripping drama about pretense and failure, seduction and self-betrayal."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2002, Frances Bradburn, review of Blind Sighted, p. 116; March 1, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of Caught in the Act, p. 1185.

Horn Book, March-April, 2005, Christine M. Heppermann, review of Caught in the Act, p. 206.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2002, review of Blind Sighted, p. 1230; March 1, 2005, review of Caught in the Act, p. 292.

Kliatt, September, 2002, Claire Rosser, review of Blind Sighted, p. 12.

Library Media Connection, January, 2006, Charlotte Decker, review of Caught in the Act, p. 74.

Publishers Weekly, August 5, 2002, review of Blind Sighted, p. 74; May 30, 2005, review of Caught in the Act, p. 62.

School Library Journal, September, 2002, Mary R. Hofmann, review of Blind Sighted, p. 230; May, 2005, Karen Hoth, review of Caught in the Act, p. 133.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2002, review of Blind Sighted, p. 283; April, 2005, Ed Goldberg and Abbe Goldberg, review of Caught in the Act, p. 46.