Heather had never felt quite this bad before. She wiped the sweat off her palms again, this time onto her dress. She could feel the thumping of her heart under the material. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. She groaned. ‘This is easily going to be the worst day of my life,’ she thought.
Heather is terrified of giving a talk in front of her whole class. She would do anything to get out of it. So, when her Aunty Jenny stops by in her ambulance before school, Heather hides in the back, looking for lift to somewhere she can hide out for the day.
Soon, though, Heather is regretting her actions. The ambulance is called to an accident and as it races through the streets, Heather is thrown around and hurts her wrist. Surely her day can’t get any worse than this?
Stowaway is a humorous and fast moving story which deals with a very real fear for many children (and adults) – speaking in front of their peers. The solution is appropriate, the characters and their actions believable.
Part of the Trekkers series by Macmillan Education, Stowaway is equally suitable for classroom or private reading.
Stowaway, by Trudie Trewin
Macmillan Education, 2005