A Kind of Spark

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Wow. This is certainly one of the best middle-grade books I've ever read, and a terrific example of why, YES, adults should read middle-grade. Because the way McNicoll explains and explores what life is like for people like her, like Addie and Keedie, is so brilliant in both its simplicity and its depth, in its vulnerability and its strength, in its compassion and its confrontation. Readers, particularly neurotypical ones, are forced to question themselves over their own preconceived notions, poor assumptions, and if not outright cruelty than at least a sense of Have I always done right by people I've known who were struggling to live in a world that deems their lives disposable? It's not about making people feel ashamed to the point of immobility, but giving them the opportunity to use their shame as a motivating force toward becoming better, toward treating people better in the future than you may have done in the past. I'm struggling with how to write my review of this because I feel it's such an important book to read, and I can't quite express how much I want everyone to read it. I've given it 4 stars, but this, I cannot stress enough, is purely due to my own personal taste plot wise. I'm not a massive fan of contemporary or witches. This takes nothing away from how amazing this book is. Written by an own voices, neurodivergent author, you can really feel Addie's emotions and struggles because you know just how real they are. Every injustice, every act of unfairness, stands out and hits the reader in the gut. So many times I wanted to cry when an unkind word is thrown Addie's way, and when an adult dismisses her feelings and opinions.

Perfect for readers of Song for a Whale and Counting by 7s, a neurodivergent girl campaigns for a memorial when she learns that her small Scottish town used to burn witches simply because they were different. A must-read for students and adults alike. -School Library Journal, Starred Review Ever since Ms. Murphy told us about the witch trials that happened centuries ago right here in Juniper, I can’t stop thinking about them. Those people weren’t magic. They were like me. Different like me. I’m autistic. I see things that others do not. I hear sounds that they can ignore. And sometimes I feel things all at once. I think about the witches, with no one to speak for them. Not everyone in our small town understands. But if I keep trying, maybe someone will. I won’t let the witches be forgotten. Because there is more to their story. Just like there is more to mine. Award-winning and neurodivergent author Elle McNicoll delivers an insightful and stirring debut about the European witch trials and a girl who refuses to relent in the fight for what she knows is right. A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll – eBook DetailsAddie believes that the women who were accused of witchcraft were an example of this, singled out for differences in socializing and behaviour. McNicoll, who is autistic herself, wasn’t looking for a book deal when she first met Knights Of; she was offering her services as a proofreader for books that involved disability. “The meeting started with me venting about job interviews that had been very soul destroying,” she says. “And they said, ‘We don’t have an autistic character, if you would like to write one’.”

Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - This debut novel from a neurodivergent writer offers an utterly convincing and hugely likeable narrative voice. Challenging many myths and a stereotypes, for example autism equals no emotions/empathy. With Addie’s twin sister also on the spectrum, we are reminded that there are ‘many different ways to be autistic’. This story gives a great insight into what it's like to be autistic, but the points are never forced or laboured. Morales, Macey (24 January 2022). "2022 Schneider Family Book Awards recipients named". American Library Association . Retrieved 13 February 2022. Alhoewel er al veel boeken op de markt zijn verschenen over autistische hoofdpersonages, beide origineel Nederlands en vertaald, concludeert schrijver Elle McNicoll in haar masterscriptie een gebrek aan neurodiverse auteurs die over hun eigen ervaringen schrijven.

Reviews

Adaptational Nice Girl: In the book, Jenna openly refused to associate with Addie after befriending Emily, made no effort to help her when Emily was bullying her, and was generally unrepentant about everything. In the series, while at first she's still complacent in Emily's bullying, she eventually comes to learn the error of her ways, helps Addie out of trouble in the end, and the two rekindle their once strained friendship, even going so far as to call Emily out on her bullying after all is said and done.

Bayan Murphy gibi "zorba" öğretmenleri zamanında yediğim dayaklardan iyi bilirim. O zaman aileler arasında da "eti senin kemiği benim"ci anlayış vardı. Neyse ki artık daha bilinçlendiğini düşünüyorum, en azından umuyorum. Lakin hala zorba öğretmenlerin olduğuna da yüzde yüz eminim. İlkokul öğrencilerini tokatlayan, kulağını çeken, kafasını tahtaya vuran, sözlü tacizde ve psikolojik şiddette bulunan Duygu Tural, biz senden çok çektik ve bizim sana karşı koyacak gücümüz yoktu. Umarım sen de hayattan çok çekmişsindir. Addie: "While you may be neurotypical and I'm autistic, I promise. We are more alike than we are different."Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: However, the narrative makes it clear that Emily and Miss Murphy can’t use their troubles as an excuse to hurt others. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Speaking of the adults, I severely hate Miss Murphy with a passion. She is the kind of person who should have read a book like this as a child so she could learn to not be prejudiced against people who are different. This book should be in every school library. It should be taught in classrooms. Adults should be made to read it so they avoid doing the infuriating things Miss Murphy does in this book. I’m autistic. I see things that others do not. I hear sounds that they can ignore. And sometimes I feel things all at once. I think about the witches, with no one to speak for them. Not everyone in our small town understands. But if I keep trying, maybe someone will. I won’t let the witches be forgotten. Because there is more to their story. Just like there is more to mine. There is a lot of story in this juvenile fiction novel! The main character, Addie, is 11-years-old, autistic, and struggling with her new classroom teacher and a new student who has joined their class this year. Addie has a lot of depth and readers are able to get "into her head" and realize the extent to which she has to mask her autism at times, the passion she has for causes that are important to her, and the complicated family dynamics between Addie and her older sisters - twins, one of which is also autistic. (Through this reading, I also learned that Addie prefers to be referred to as autistic, not as "having autism". Addie says, "It's something you are, not something you have.") Although she is grossly misunderstood, and mistreated, by her homeroom teacher, Addie finds comfort in the school library and support from the school librarian, as well as her family.

Miss Murphy tries to provoke Addie by doing this to prove her point, although they are mostly accusations that are not true ("I know you cheated on that test" for example) and outright insults. The Three Faces of Eve: The Darrow sisters can be seen to each fill in for one of the archetypes of the triad, with Addie as the child or the most innocent of the sisters, Nina as the more socially outgoing and fashionable, and Keedie as the wise and responsible one. Perfect for readers of Song for a Whale and Counting by 7s, a neurodivergent girl campaigns for a memorial when she learns that her small Scottish town used to burn witches simply because they were different.

About Elle McNicoll

Since the early nineties, autism was something that was rarely discussed and certainly never understood. Knowledge of and a window into what it means to be autistic in the world of children’s literature has been even scanter. The literature that I have encountered such as The London Eye Mystery and I Am Bat or My Brother Sammy have all been written by people who may have worked with or lived with children who are autistic but A Kind of Spark is, uniquely, a book which has been written who identifies as neurodivergent.