by Elle McNicoll
Published in 2020
9+ Years
Suggested age group
Neurodiversity | Coming-of-Age
Genre
What is A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll about?
A Kind of Spark is a middle grade novel celebrating autism, kindness, courage and standing up for what’s right.
Discover our Review and Summary of A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
Most people in Juniper think autistic people shouldn’t be here, that we don’t belong. They’re right, our minds are enormous, theirs are small.
A Kind of Spark is a small book that delivers a powerful testament to the unstoppable resilience of one girl against all odds.
Addie is an 11-year-old autistic girl living in Juniper (Scotland) with her mum, dad and two sisters – Nina and Keedie. She knows her favourite animals, her best friend, and her favourite word in the dictionary. She knows who her role model is. But this year, everything is about to change.
The summer holidays have whizzed by, and Addie returns to school. Everything is the same, except something feels off with Jenna – her best friend. Addie notices that Jenna is ignoring her. Unsure of this, Addie returns her focus on the lesson, taught by the cruel Miss Murphy. The lesson captures Addie’s attention, it is about witches! Feeling she can relate to the women wrongfully trialled for witchcraft just for being different, thinking if she were born in that time she would also have been trialled for being autistic.
Learning about witches has conjured something in Addie and she knows what happened was unfair and that she must raise awareness. At school, her friendship with Jenna is taken over by Emily – her bully – and Addie must find a new friend. At this point, Audrey is introduced, and slowly they begin to like each other.
Addie raises the issue at the village hall and advocate for a plaque. She worries if they will ever get enough money. They ask Keedie – Addie’s autistic sister – for help, but something is very wrong, and Addie must get to the bottom of it.
Can Audrey and Addie raise enough money for the plaque and find out what is wrong with Keedie in time?
My favourite part is when Addie’s family is called in to have a conversation about her behaviour. When Miss Murphy is explaining to everyone what Addie has done, Keedie stands up for her, knowing the teacher is being unfair. This teaches Miss Murphy a valuable lesson.
My favourite character is Nina – Keedie’s twin sister – because at the start of the book, she is portrayed as a careless sister, only focused on her influencer life. However, as the book goes on, she begins to open up about her wrongdoings and you see that she has always loved her family for who they are, Autistic or not!
Is A Kind of Spark Worth Reading?
Overall, this book is great to read, talking about how anyone can achieve anything, especially challenging stereotypes about people with disabilities. It also shows how adults can be bullies as well and it is important to speak up. There were so many important themes in this book, but the key one was sticking with family and believing in yourself.
I rate this book a 5/5 and recommend it to anyone seeking an adventurous read.
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