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Tiberius Goes to Rome by Peter Kay 267 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0027; ISBN 1-4120-2103-0; US$19.99, C$22.45, EUR16.50, £11.35 Travel to ancient Rome and join Tiberius Caesar as he battles through the hormone-charged, rebellious and utterly confusing period that is the teenage years in, "Tiberius Goes to Rome".
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about the book
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About the Book
Tiberius Goes to Rome is a book about a boy growing up in Roman times, and the many problems he encounters during his teenage years. Many teenagers reading this will quickly begin to realise just how similar the problems facing a teenage boy in ancient times are to those facing teenagers today. Adults also will be able to relate to the main character, Tiberius A. Caesar, as they remeber just what it was like for them when they experienced the same hormone-charged, rebelious and utterly confusing period that is the teenage years.
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About the Author
Peter Kay, 19 years old, grew up in Nottinghamshire and has always wanted to publish a book. He is currently studying for a Finance degree at Stirling University in Scotland.
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Sample Excerpts or Table of Contents
A month went by and I never went round to
see Christa even once in that time. I didn't
think I could bear it. She probably hated me
now anyway for trying to kiss her. Girls got
all annoyed when they thought you were a
friend and then tried to come onto them. I
read that somewhere I think.
Instead I busied myself settling in to my
new room, or 'making a mess of it' as my
mum said, shaking her head every time she
came in. Parents never seem to understand
that kids actually like their bedrooms messy.
It provides an atmosphere that we can relax
in. Having everything tidy and put away, and
the floor all clean just freaks us out.
Whenever I go into their room for something I
always shake my head and wonder how
anyone could live in a room as clean as this.
So why did they always tell us to tidy our
rooms? Having an untidy room is a child's
right. It can take ages to mess up a room to a
satisfactory standard. It's almost a form of
artwork really.
I also started my new school during this
period. It was much bigger than my old one. I
don't think I'll ever find my way around it,
not completely anyway. Still, I've only got a
couple of years to go at school before I have
to leave. I'd never really expected this time to
ever come around, where I finally had to go
out in the big bad world and figure out what I
was actually going to do for a living. Wait, I
already know what I want to do. I want to be
an actor, performing in all the glamorous
theatres in the Empire, becoming world
famous, and getting a lot of attention from all
the nice girls.
My first day was quite nerve-wracking, but
I think it went ok on the whole. In the
morning I had to stand at the front while the
teacher introduced me to the class. As soon
as she said my name the arm of just about
every kid in the room shot up into the air.
'Are you...' one kid began.
'No I'm not related to any famous people
in history' I said wearily.
All the hands went down and everyone
seemed kind of disappointed.
By lunchtime I felt really upset and was
missing all my friends at my old school, and
Maria. I remember sitting down on the grass
under a large shady tree and wondering what
they were all up to. Fortunately though a boy
from my class came over, and we got
chatting. His name was Toby, and he was
quite small with short dark hair and had a
habit of staring open mouthed at things
occasionally, but he was harmless and he
was a good listener. We talked about many
things, such as my old school, the girls there,
the girls here, where my new house was and
how well we were settling in, the girls who
lived round about me, the weather, the most
popular places to hang out at the weekends
and where you had the most chance of seeing
the girls...I noticed for the first time that
teenage boys talk a lot about girls. I
mentioned this to Toby and he laughed a
strange laugh which sounded remarkably like
a duck. I thought back to my experience with
the angry ducks at the lake and I told him all
about that, and all about Christa which I'd
curiously managed to avoid somehow in all
our previous talk about girls, and he laughed
even more and his laugh set me off and soon
we were chuckling away like the best of
pals...which I suppose we were, for I didn't
have any other friends in the world now.
'You have to introduce me to this Christa
girl' he said keenly.
'Ha! You'll be lucky. She probably never
wants to see me again. In fact, she'd probably
chase me with a rolling pin' I said, sighing
heavily.
'So? That's good!' he exclaimed. 'Then the
way'll be clear for me to have a try with her!'
I had to admire his optimism. He wasn't
the best looking of fellows, or the brightest
penny in the fountain, but he had that
innocuous and friendly charm that most girls
seem to go for. He was the kind of guy they
could all get motherly and protective of,
making sure he didn't get his heart broken by
another female. Now I understand why all the
girls were sitting around him in class earlier
on.
'Believe me, I'm never going to go round
there again' I told him.
This seemed a rather definite statement
but it turned out to be a complete load of
rubbish for that very afternoon after school I
found myself stood at Christa's front door
with Toby eagerly grinning and combing his
hair back with his fingers.
'How did you manage to talk me into this
again?'
'You didn't take much persuading. You
must like her real bad' he said grinning.
'Yeah, well...' I admitted.
'So knock on the door then' he urged.
I reached up to the knocker, then put my
hand down again.
'I can't' I said, wimping out.
'Oh. I see' he said. 'I understand' and with
that he reached up and knocked loudly on
the door three times. He stood back and
winked at me mischievously.
There was a shuffling sound as someone
came to the door. Then the familiar clanking
sound of a metal bolt being drawn back, and
slowly the large wooden door creaked open. It
was Christa this time who opened it. I looked
at Toby out of the corner of my eye. His
mouth was open so wide his chin was nearly
on the floor.
'Hey' she said, a little less friendly than
she used to greet me, or at least that's how it
sounded to me anyway.
'Straw' I replied trying to make her laugh.
I had missed that little laugh so much this
past month.
But it didn't work.
'What? Oh, um, yeah, good one' she said
flatly.
I stood there, still unable to look her in
the eye. Instead I looked across at Toby. He
hadn't moved, his mouth still wide open,
staring at Christa.
'Are you ok?' she said to him eventually.
He snapped out of his trance.
'Huh? What? Oh, er, sorry. Yes. Nice to
meet you' he said holding out his hand.
Christa shook it, and tried to let go but he
seemed to be reluctant to release the hand of
such an amazing older girl. I nudged him in
the side and he gave Christa her hand back.
So much for him being a ladies man! He's
turned to jelly at the first sight of a beautiful
girl.
'So, what can I do for you?' she asked
eventually.
Oh heck, what were we doing here?! I
didn't know what to say.
'Er, well...' I began, trying desperately to
think of something but drawing a blank. I've
never been that good at thinking under
pressure.'
'Yes...?' She sounded slightly annoyed
now.
'We were wondering if you'd like to come
with us to the lake' Toby piped up.
I gave him a sharp look. I could've kicked
him!
'Thanks, that's sweet, but I've got a lot of
washing to do. Maybe another time though,
yeah?'
'Oh ok' Toby said. 'We were just on our
way down there and we wondered if you'd
like to come, but if you're busy we
understand. A beautiful girl like you must
have plenty to do I would imagine.'
She gave an almost nervous laugh, and
then waited for one of us to speak, which
neither of us did.
'Ok then. Well, if that's all...' she began.
She looked at me, and I looked at her. At last
our eyes had met, and we stood gazing at
each other. She was waiting for me to say
something, anything, but I couldn't. I had
lost my voice completely, lost in her lovely
deep blue eyes.
Catalogue Information
