Gwynedd teacher and author Chloe Heuch reads extract of book exclusively for Cambrian news readers

Watch Gwynedd teacher and author Chloe Heuch reads extract of book exclusively for Cambrian news readers - Tindle News on Dailymotion

Transcript

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