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00:00Hi, my name's Chloe Hugh and I'm a children's author from North Wales and I'm here to talk
00:07to you about my new book, A History of My Word. I'm going to read you a short extract
00:12which is right from the beginning of the book where Mo has just started high school.
00:17Tuesday the 7th of September. Don't move feet, don't move. I'm sitting in my science classroom
00:24in the uncomfortable seats trying to stop my feet from twitching. Mr Jones is going
00:30on about food chains to my new class 7D. I learnt all this stuff in primary so I'm mainly
00:36concentrating on my feet and trying not to stim. I explained stimming to Maya once. It's
00:43something I can't help. Stimming makes me feel a bit calmer or happier. But she just
00:49said it was weird and if I wanted to be friends with her I should stop. My new class has a
00:56mix of kids from our old primary and other primary schools too. Mr Jones has let everyone
01:02sit where they like today as it's the first day. I wanted to sit with Ellie and Maya but
01:07the tables are in rows and only have space for two. They are stuck together as usual
01:13so I sat behind them on my own. I look around the class at all the new people. Loads of
01:20names I don't know yet. Loads of people I've got to try to understand. The thought of it
01:25exhausts me. Then Mr Jones starts talking about predators. He mentions sharks. I love
01:33anything to do with the sea so I start to listen. He shows us a clip from a film where
01:39a megalodon is about to bite someone in half but it's a megalodon not a shark. Ellie puts
01:46her hand up. My uncle lives in Australia. There are loads of shark attacks there. Another
01:52kid I don't know says I've seen that film. The giant shark eats the whole village one
01:56by one. Most of the class start talking about it excitedly apart from a couple of children
02:03on the edges of the room who are sat on their own like me not speaking. One is a kid with
02:08black hair cut to her shoulders. I notice she's wearing earrings with dangly moons.
02:14It makes me feel a tiny bit better that I'm not the only person on my own. A tiny bit
02:18braver for what I'm about to do. Mr Jones smiles. Yes sharks do capture our imagination
02:25as nightmares from the deep. I hate speaking in class. I only speak if it's important but
02:31I know this stuff is wrong. Sharks get such bad press and I have to tell them even though
02:37it feels like someone is trampolining about on my insides. So I say that isn't a shark.
02:44It's a megalodon. They've been extinct for over three million years. Right. We've got
02:49to know it all. Mr Jones sighs dramatically. He checks the class register and glances at
02:55me. Next time you want to speak put your hand up young lady. I put my hand up like he asks
03:02and carry on talking. And if you want to know what happens next you'll have to buy a copy
03:07A History of My Weird from Firefly Press by Chloe Huke