Set in Australia, Peter is a fifteen year old boy, although he prefers "nearly sixteen"; he's a keen motor cyclist (a dirt bike) and a talented photographer. He has an older brother with whom communication is limited, and his father has separated from his mother. The main topic of talk amongst his friends is girls. This seems quite normal to Peter until a disastrous intimate moment with a pushy girls has him worried; he likes girls, but he begins to realises he does not feel that way about them. To add to his troubles he finds himself having thoughts about an older boy. Could he be the worse thing imaginable for a teenage boy, a poof? How will his friends react and his father, who expects a man to be a man and play sport (except tennis of course)?
Peter comes across as an ordinary decent lad, a typical boy in all respects; yet caring and thoughtful. The story handles his predicament as Peter himself tells it sensitively, positively, realistically and with touches of humour. The characters are well observed, Peters forbearing older brother is convincing, David the object of Peters dreams I perhaps almost too good to be true: gay, good looking, immaculate in his dress, sensitive and understanding, as at home stripping down a lawnmower as he is advising on shopping for groceries; but he provides a balance with the yobbish attitude of Peter's peers. It makes for a touching, at times moving, but always entertaining story.