A Kind of Spark

Elle McNicoll — 2022

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.

Reviews

Shay@vallisje

Jan 23, 2023

A Kind of Spark is an absolutely brilliant, beautiful novel about an autistic girl named Addie who has discovered her voice and is determined to use it for change. Addie is an autistic girl who lives in a small town in Scotland called Juniper. She learns in school about the witch trials and all of the innocent women who lost their lives due to bigotry and false accusations. And she's heartbroken by what she hears, so she sets out on a mission (with the help of her Librarian) to have a plaque put up in town memorializing and remembering the women who lost their lives in the witch trials. This story is very much about witches, but it's about more than that too. Addie uses the innocent women who were targeted during the witch trials as a parallel for how people treat autistic people today. She saw these women who were misunderstood and forgotten and decided that it was her responsibility to make sure that people didn't forget about them and what they went through. At one point in this story Addie gives a speech about these forgotten women and talks openly about her experiences being autistic and it made me sob like a baby. I can relate to Addie so much. Kids are so cruel when they meet people they don't understand or who behave differently than they do. I'd experienced so many similar things to what Addie talked about but been unable to put it into words. Somehow Elle McNicoll brought these feelings to life in a way that was innocently youthful and yet so raw and honest at the same time. This book has a fantastic representation of autism and displays a crucial part of many autist's experience - a strong sense of social justice (in part due to black and white thinking.) And I really don't have the words to express how much this book meant to me. I hope that young autistic people around the world will read this and feel seen and heard and understood. Elle McNicoll has written a wonderful book and I wish everyone would read this.