Kehret, Peg (1936-…), is an American children’s author best known for her suspense and thriller novels for middle-grade readers. Kehret also gained recognition for her nonfiction books for young people interested in acting and for her strong support for the humane treatment of animals.
Kehret created the “Frightmares” thriller series that follows the adventures of young Rosie Saunders and her best friend, Kayo Benton. The girls are the heroes of many fast-paced mysteries, beginning with Cat Burglar on the Prowl (1995). Kehret has also written three thrillers starring Ellen Streator and her little brother, Corey. The pair appeared in Terror at the Zoo (1992), a story about an overnight camping trip at a zoo that turns scary. Their adventures continued in Horror at the Haunted House (1992) and Danger at the Fair (1995). Kehret wrote several mystery novels that list Pete the Cat as coauthor. The cat belongs to 12-year-old Alex Kendrill, a character in the stories. The first novel was The Stranger Next Door (2002).
Kehret has written plays. She has also published several collections of monologues appropriate for young, aspiring actors, including Acting Natural: Monologs, Dialogs, and Playlets for Teens (1991). Her sympathy for animals inspired the novel Cages (1991) and the nonfiction work Shelter Dogs: Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays (1999).
Margaret Ann Schulze was born on Nov. 11, 1936, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. She married Carl E. Kehret, a player piano restorer, in 1955. When she was in the seventh grade, Peg suffered an attack of polio that left her paralyzed from the neck down. There was a chance that she would never walk again, but she made an almost complete recovery. Kehret wrote about her battle with the disease in her memoir Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio (1996). She discussed her writing career in the memoir Five Pages a Day: A Writer’s Journey (2002).
