Anna Whateley on Peta Lyre's Rating Normal

Peta Lyre is far from typical but she tries hard to appear so by following a series of well-crafted rules and routines dictated by her psychologist to assist with blending in. Through Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal’s stream-of-consciousness narrative, we accompany Peta as she navigates life seeking to be ‘normal’. As readers, we explore what it means to be normal, who and what is normal and ultimately, whether being normal is all that it is made out to be. With empathy and compassion, Whateley unveils what life is like for Peta who has multiple diagnoses and has undertaken years of therapy in order to assist with managing her triggers and we are asked to challenge the typical ‘rules’ of behaviour. Why would we want to be ‘normal’ and at what cost? In this interview for YA Book Stack, Whateley elaborates on the anxieties and uncertainties of living in a world that doesn’t suit how Peta’s mind works and shares the reasons for her many inspirations – from Frankenstein, to Romantic poetry, and Icelandic instrumentalist music.

Anna Whateley’s debut #ownvoices novel Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal is shortlisted for the CBCA book awards. She also has an essay titled ‘Noisy Silence’ in Growing Up Disabled in Australia, edited by Carly Findlay. Her next novel, Tearing Myself Together, will be released early 2022 with Allen & Unwin. When coronavirus spread, Anna founded the bookish chat show #AusChat just to keep the community together, and the YouTube channel is now funded in part by the Australian Arts Council. She uses her YouTube and Twitch presence to collaborate and connect with the writing community and more broadly with composers, gamers, and interesting folk all around the world. Anna has a PhD in young adult fiction (literary criticism) and has taught sociology and YA/children’s literature to preservice teachers. She loves to attend writer events, conferences, twitter storms, and book launches, and is also a strong advocate for the neurodivergent community.