Peter’s voice opens the novel. He is the class prankster and troublemaker. Peter’s constant pressing of the rules, as well as Mr. Terupt’s lack of effective response to those antics, foreshadow the accident that serves as the climax of the story. Peter is just beginning to think school can be fun when the snowball incident occurs, and he spends the second half of the novel withdrawn from his classmates as a result of his guilt over the accident. Peter’s classmates contribute to his withdrawal by choosing to ostracize him: “We had each made the choice to make him invisible” (200), confides Luke.

Peter has a tendency to speak and act before he thinks, but he shows genuine remorse when his words or actions unintentionally hurt others. He experiences a couple of cathartic moments in Part 2. The first is when James hugs him in front of everyone and tells him the accident was not his fault: “Peter began crying, softly at first, but then he lost it. His entire body shook with each sob” (200). This moment brings Peter’s classmates to forgive him, and his second cathartic moment occurs when Mr. Terupt forgives him with a hug.