"A must-read for students and adults alike." -School Library Journal, Starred Review“What a fabulous book! A Kind Of Spark is a brilliant debut. It's narrated by Addie, an autistic girl who teaches us to question our assumptions and embrace our differences. She is such a brilliant protagonist - I miss her” - Lisa Thompson
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 tells the story of 11-year old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown. Addie knows there’s more to the story of these ‘witches’, just like there is more to hers. Can Addie challenge how the people in her town see her, and her autism, and make herself heard?
“A charming, heartbreaking and sweetly funny debut novel celebrating differences. Elle McNicoll is one to watch.” - Susin Nielsen
“The definitive autistic children’s books” - Lizzie Huxley-Jones
“Vividly drawn” - The Observer