Current Works
Welcome, I hope you find something that sparks interest.
Upcoming publications
Tearing Myself Together, with Allen and Unwin, will be released on the 28th April 2026! This is momentous. Pre orders are open, and I can be found on Instagram, or please contact Allen and Unwin for publicity opportunities.
Blog post from Allen and Unwin
I wrote a piece for the Allen and Unwin blog on why I wrote Tearing Myself Together. Found Here :)
Recent work
Tearing Myself Together
Hilzy's life is forever coming undone - and so is her body. Friendship is just one more thing she can't count on…until she has to. A wonderful YA novel that explores found family and forgiveness from the CBCA shortlisted author of Peta Lyre's Rating Normal.
Pre orders open! Booktopia Other places to order
It's Year Twelve exam time, and Hilzy has a lot on her plate. She's just lost her job, she and her sister Max are struggling to make ends meet, and her childhood best friend Imogen recently dobbed them in to child services. The friendship is over. There's a new spark of joy when Hilzy grows closer to Dawn, the hippy girl who's had a crush on her for ages. But when Hilzy ends up in hospital with a busted knee, it's only Imogen who understands what it's really like living with an invisible disability. Things are falling apart, but maybe it's not all on Hilzy to put them back together again.
A smart, funny and profound exploration of the messiness of love, friendship and bodies from the author of Peta Lyre's Rating Normal. 'Gripping, emotionally resonant, and really, really beautiful.' - Kay Kerr, author of Please Don't Hug Me
Perfect for: - Readers seeking authentic, contemporary teen experiences - Lovers of coming-of-age and found-family stories - Empathetic depiction of disability and neurodivergence
Someone Like Me
While the ‘nerdy white man’ stereotype of Autism dominates in media and popular culture, other Autistic people miss out on seeing themselves, their unique experiences, their hardships and their triumphs.In Someone Like Me, edited by Clem Bastow and Jo Case, twenty-five Autistic gender-diverse and women writers explore their experiences – and explode stereotypes. This groundbreaking anthology ranges from sex, living room dance parties and the natural world to eating disorders, all-encompassing passions and religion. Autistic people of all kinds are invited to find company in these pages – and maybe even see themselves, too.
Contributors include Fiona Wright, Sara Kian-Judge, CB Mako, Jess Ho, Kay Kerr, Khadija Gbla, Adele Dumont, Erin Riley, Shadia Hancock, Amanda Tink, Tash Agafonoff, Kai Ash, Anna Whateley and Kate Gordon.
Peta Lyre's Rating Normal
‘I’m Peta Lyre,’ I mumble. Look people in the eye if you can, at least when you greet them. I try, but it’s hard when she is smiling so big, and leaning in.
Peta Lyre is far from typical. The world she lives in isn’t designed for the way her mind works, but when she follows her therapist’s rules for ‘normal’ behaviour, she can almost fit in without attracting attention.
When a new girl, Sam, starts at school, Peta’s carefully structured routines start to crack. But on the school ski trip, with romance blooming and a newfound confidence, she starts to wonder if maybe she can have a normal life after all.
When things fall apart, Peta must decide whether all the old rules still matter. Does she want a life less ordinary, or should she keep her rating normal?
A moving and joyful own voices debut.
https://www.jacintadimase.com.au/books/peta-lyre-s-rating-normal-by-anna-whateley
Noisy Silence, Growing Up Disabled in Australia
My essay in this anthology is titled 'Noisy Silence'. One in five Australians has a disability. And disability presents itself in many ways. Yet disabled people are still underrepresented in the media and in literature. Growing Up Disabled in Australia is the fifth book in the highly acclaimed, bestselling Growing Up series. It includes interviews with prominent Australians such as Senator Jordon Steele-John and Paralympian Isis Holt, poetry and graphic art, as well as more than 40 original pieces by writers with a disability or chronic illness. Contributors include Dion Beasley, Astrid Edwards, Jessica Walton, Carly-Jay Metcalfe, Gayle Kennedy and El Gibbs.
https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/growing-disabled-australia
About Anna
Anna Whateley (she/her) is a Brisbane based writer. She has worked in literature and education, and holds a PhD in young adult fiction from Queensland University of Technology.
Her debut novel Peta Lyre's Rating Normal was released in 2020, and an autobiographical account was published in Growing up Disabled in Australia in 2020. She wrote with Kate Gordon in Someone Like Me with UQP in 2025.
Her next YA novel, 'Tearing Myself Together' is coming out in 2026.
Anna is proudly autistic, with ADHD, sensory processing disorder and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
More personally, she loves pottery, origami, watching the sumo wrestling and gaming.
Links and contact
For interviews please contact the publisher of the work. Allen and Unwin's Chidren's and YA Publicist will be happy to help with anything regarding Tearing Myself Together!
Otherwise, I'm best found on Instagram, as putting my work email address here leads to nothing but spam emails. I'm quite friendly though, promise :)
Reviews
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal reviews.
“I cried happy tears when I finished reading – it was so good and so validating to feel SEEN; to see someone like me written BY someone like me.” Goodreads Review
"Highly compelling, intensely moving and ultimately hopeful, this book heralds the arrival of a talented new young adult author.” Books and Publishing
‘Honest, perceptive and gutsy; I loved tuning into Peta’s world.’ Emily Gale
“Peta is someone who I’m sure will sit with readers for some time after finishing the novel. She bursts on the page in technicolour, with raw honesty which makes me ache to know her.” The Unfinished Bookshelf
"I really would have loved to have had a book like this during my teen years – I would have had the language and the understanding of why I felt so angry and exhausted all the time and why I felt like I was a liar and a fake and a nothing person underneath that facade. And I would have felt less alone, and understood that I didn’t HAVE to playact neurotypical. Goodreads Peta is someone who I’m sure will sit with readers for some time after finishing the novel. She bursts on the page in technicolour, with raw honesty which makes me ache to know her." Unfinished Bookshelf
“I cried happy tears when I finished reading – it was so good and so validating to feel SEEN; to see someone like me written BY someone like me.” Goodreads Review
Reviews: Books and Publishing https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2020/03/05/147023/peta-lyres-rating-normal-anna-whateley-au/
Good Reads Magazine: ★★★★★ “With neurodivergent people still misconstrued in media today, a book like Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal is absolutely vital. As a neurodivergent person myself, I wish I’d had a book like this as a teen – but reading it now is just as special.” https://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/articles/article/view/id/2246
mETAphor Issue 3, 2020, p.56. English Teachers Association of NSW “Whateley’s voice is highly distinctive, accessible, and unique.” Alex Wharton Just Kid’s Lit: “I talked to this book. I laughed and I cried. I wanted to rescue those kids. I wanted to yell at some of the adults and hug others and tell them they were excellent human beings. This book is sure to speak to the hearts of so many people – both those diagnosed as “letter kids” and those, like me, who still struggle to find their “rating normal”. I heartily recommend it to absolutely everyone. This book will change lives.”
http://www.justkidslit.com/peta-lyre/
Sparkly Pretty Briiight, by AussieMoose: “Much of what makes Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal such a compelling read for people of any age – it is ostensibly a YA book but I can’t think of anyone who couldn’t benefit from being a part of Peta’s life… it is as honest as any first person account you’re likely to get. Anna Whateley’s Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal is a brilliantly real and heartwarming read, a book which takes us deep into the world of the neurodivergent, the full extent of which many of us do not fully appreciate, and in so doing, reminds us that the differences between us are not a liability or some sort of deficiency but something to be valued and to be treated as just as normal as any other expression of humanity because in the end that is exactly what they are. Just ask Peta.” http://www.sparklyprettybriiiight.com/book-review-peta-lyres-rating-normal-by-anna-whateley/
Inside a Dog, by Imosshelf: “This novel was a celebration for anyone with ASD, ADHD, SPD or who are a part of the LGBTQI+ community. It represents groups of people that for someone who reads as much as I do, I haven’t read all that much about. It also happens to be an Own Voices novel which means that these are experiences coming from the author (real people!!!).” “There was so much I didn’t understand about this novel when I read it for the first time. It is full of identities that don’t belong to me and characters that at face value, I share next to nothing in common with. When I revisited chapters that I’d taken note of, I realised that that was the quiet brilliance of Anna’s writing.” memyshelfandi.insideadog.com.au