Lily has a stammer. The signal between her brain and her mouth is all messed up - and it’s getting worse. When a video of her practicing her class presentation is uploaded onto YouTube - head thrust forward, eyelids fluttering, lips stretched wide - Lily’s nightmare begins. Cyberbullying, kids at school whispering, even best friend Mia laughing behind her back. Lily’s confidence takes a nose-dive and she can only see one way run away to Dad in Scotland and start all over again. But Lily quickly realises that running away isn’t the answer - that her stammer will follow her wherever she goes... HOW TO BE MORE HEDGEHOG is about friendship and family and finding the courage to speak out.

ANNE MARIE CONWAY

I grew up in London with my parents, big sister and little brother, dreaming about being on the stage! I went to hundreds of dancing lessons and joined every drama group going! My best friend Julia and I spent LOADS of time making up dance routines in our bedrooms - using our hairbrushes as microphones to sing out at the tops of our voices.

Soon after starting secondary school I began to feel a bit shy about performing although I still loved going to the theatre and I still dreamed about being a STAR. I went to see the same shows over and over again and I often thought I’d never be happy unless I ended up on a West End stage singing and dancing in front of hundreds of people!

Luckily I did find other ways to be happy. I qualified as a primary school teacher and at around the same time I started up my own Saturday Drama Club - Full Circle.

Full Circle has been running for years and years…we have put on so many awesome productions and some of the children who joined when they were six or seven years old still come along now to help out! Running a drama club for children and putting on shows for all their family and friends has been just as exciting for me as performing myself!

When my first baby Callum was born I got to stay at home for a while and look after him. Whenever he went to sleep (which was quite often) I started to scribble down ideas for a book about a drama club. Then when my second baby, Freddy, was born and I was at home again, I sat down at my computer and turned my scribbled notes into a story about a very shy girl called Phoebe who dreams about being a star…

I still live in London and I still have BIG dreams - but these days they’re much more about writing than about singing and dancing.

Dreams are so important…I do hope all of yours come true!