Billy Plimpton is an eleven-year-old boy who is desperate to make it as a stand-up comic - despite the fact that he has a pronounced stammer. He wants to be a stand-up comedian when he grows up: delivering punch-lines and having audiences hang on his every word. A tough career for anyone, but surely impossible for Billy, who has a stammer. How will he find his voice, if his voice won't let him speak? The idea for this story came from Helen Rutter's son, who has a stammer: she wanted to write the book that he would love to read, starring a child like him.