Gemma is a typical rich kid -- with a difference. She's also a Hollywood film star, or was, until she got too old for the child parts. Now, with her mother about to take on a big new film herself, Gemma's been forced to leave Hollywood for the delights of provincial Headstone! Gemma is not at all pleased at having to stay with her ordinary cousins in an ordinary little house. How dull, after her glamorous life in Hollywood! But there is something that concerns her much more than just ordinariness -- she's terrified of attending the large comprehensive school where her cousins go. What will the other pupils think of a star who isn't being offered parts any more? Determined not to be pitied, Gemma changes her surname so she won't be recognised -- but then she's fed up because she's just a nobody! And her mother's new film looks like it's going to last about five years; Gemma can't be a nobody for five years! She takes matters into her own hands...

Noel Streatfeild's position in the children's book world is unique. She is endlessly inventive, full of verve and real understanding of childhood. Her stories are rich in documentary interest and entertainment, escapism of a most satisfying sort. 'TLS

Noel Streatfeild, the plain middle child between two talented and pretty sisters, trained at RADA and acted for nine years before writing Ballet Shoes, an instant bestseller, in 1936. As vicarage daughter, factory girl, actress, model, social worker, writer, and crusader for good books, Noel touched many aspects of life. Her experiences enriched her stories, which were so popular that, by her eightieth birthday, she had earned herself the title of a national monument . She died in 1986.