Peet grew up on a
council estate in North Walsham,
Norfolk, the eldest of three siblings, in a family that he describes as "emotionally impaired". He attended the
Paston School and spent one year at the
University of Warwick studying English and American literature, but graduated later, eventually earning an M.A. degree there. He worked at a variety of jobs, including writer for educational publishers, before deciding to start a novel at age 52. For his second novel,
Tamar (2005), he won the annual
Carnegie Medal from the
British librarians, recognising the year's best children's book published in the U.K. Susan Tranter wrote that "Mal Peet's work is notable for its refusal to submit to categories – the constraints which label what a book should be about, and who it should appeal to. His books to date prove that successful literature for young readers doesn't have to be didactic, or have overtly youthful themes, or even centre on young characters. It is the quality of the writing which is, ultimately, the most important thing." Peet says he is skeptical of books written specifically for teenagers, saying they are prone to condescension. Peet himself stated, "I see genres as generating sets of rules or conventions that are only interesting when they are subverted or used to disguise the author’s intent. My own way of doing this is to attempt a sort of whimsical alchemy, whereby seemingly incompatible genres are brought into unlikely partnerships." Three of Peet's books feature the fictional South American
sports journalist Paul Faustino (and football). Peet's
debut novel Keeper, which is primarily a world-champion
goalkeeper's life story in the course of an interview.
Keeper,
The Penalty, and
Exposure all feature Faustino and South American football players. When he won the 2009 Guardian Award for the Othello-based
Exposure, he told the sponsoring newspaper he felt that "football books for children were pretty much hey." He also said, "I used to play all the time. I would play football when it was light and read when it was dark. Now I get to play football vicariously." Peet described his creative occupation thus: "I come up here in the morning to a pleasant room in the roof of my house and imagine I'm a black South American football superstar, then I have to imagine I'm a female pop celebrity who's pregnant. It's a completely mad way to spend your time. If I did it in public I would be sectioned. Writing is a form of licensed madness."
The Murdstone Trilogy (2014) and ''Mr Godley's Phantom'' represented a departure for Peet, being aimed at adult readers. ==Death==