No Place Like

''This is a peace house,'' reads the notice on the Williamses front door. But as Sara says, ''Who needs nukes? We got Dad.''

Dad certainly is noisy, a genial but dangerous thunderstorm. Ma, though less alarming, is voluble in the extreme, living in a world of good causes and positive thinking. Sara - beautiful, clever and efficient - is everyone''s ideal girl. And Pete takes refuge in his bedroom, with his elderly pets, ancient magazines and cassette player, and just tries to shut it all out.

The day his O-Level results arrive he has more reason than usual to retreat from life. And yet - partly because of the forgotten toast under the lighted grill - that''s the very day that Pete begins to emerge into the new world of sixth form college, astounded to find himself the centre of a group that includes gorgeous Verna, confident Nick, crazy Claire and, unfortunately, Oliver and his henchman Kenny.

No Place Like is Gene Kemp''s first novel for teenagers, but displays that unique combination of riotous comedy, human sympathy and natural realism that has made books such as The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler so beloved by young readers.