Pete hautman author biography worksheets

Pete Hautman is a prolific and celebrated author who has won, among other prestigious awards, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for his novel Godless in 2004. He has written a dozen works of fiction for adults, twice that for tweens and teens, and more than one hundred nonfiction science and nature books for children under the pen name Peter Murray.

His latest release, Slider, was my first Hautman read, and it won’t be my last. Slider is a quirky, warm upper middle grade novel about a (sort of) regular kid named David Miller, who, untrained, can eat an entire pizza in less than 5 minutes and who lives his life sandwiched between a needy, overachieving sister and an autistic little brother, who the family refuses to label as autistic so they call him “Mal.”

There’s a lot going on in Slider. From eating contests and getting duped by cheaters to caring for a special needs brother to watching young love take shape, Slider offers a mixed bag of storylines. Somehow, though, Pete ties it all together. Beautifully.

Reading Slider is a little like hanging out with your best friend—there’s comfort and safety, meandering conversations, absolutely no judgment passed, sparks of ins