A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
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Web ID: 143524914 reviews
insightful
Addie has always known that she's different. But she's also always had her older sister Keedie to help her figure out how to navigate a world that doesn't always know what to do with her. Addie and Keedie are autistic. Their family, including Keedie's twin Nina, have learned how to help make things easier for both girls offering them space to process feelings and deal with sensory overload. But the rest of Juniper is far less accomodating--something Addie is learning firsthand as her best friend drops her to be more popular and her new teacher constantly bullies and belittles Addie. Addie suspects Keedie isn't doing very well at college herself where she is struggling to "mask" as neurotypical. But no one wants to talk to Addie about that. When Addie learns about the witches who were hanged in Juniper during a witch trial, she immediately recognizes kindred spirits. The more she learns, the more clear it is that these witches were women who were a lot like Addie and her sister--women who didn't quite fit the mold for what the town considered "normal", women who had no one to speak for them. Addie's campaign for a memorial to the Juniper witches draws ire from her teacher and local officials. But it also brings a new solidarity with her family, new friends, and a chance for meaningful change in A Kind of Spark (2021) by Elle McNicoll. A Kind of Spark is narrated by Addie (whose voice is brought to life, complete with Scottish accent, in the audiobook by narrator Katy Townsend) and set in a small Scottish town. All characters are presumed white. This title received an honor for the Schneider Family Book Award which is awarded yearly by ALA to "honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences." Addie's first person narration is great and, as written by neurodivergent author McNicoll, authentic as she navigates everyday problems like making new friends alongside bigger challenges like campaigning for a memorial for the witches. While it adds a lot of tension to the story, and leads to a dramatic conclusion with both Keedie and Nina rallying around Addie, the bullying Addie faces from her teacher feels over the top. The abuse is so extreme it had me questioning if I was actually reading historical fiction (even with Nina being a beauty vlogger) because it felt like the kind of treatment a character would face decades ago. I'll add that I have no familiarity with Scotland or small town life so that might be part of the problem. But it also also felt very strange to have Addie tell her parents about how mean her teacher is (the book opens with Addie's classwork being torn up because the handwriting is too messy) and they laugh it off and remark that Addie's grandfather "got the strap" in school and he turned out fine. First of all, it's hard to believe parents presented as being attentive and caring for Addie (and Keedie) would shrug that off--especially when the threat of forced institutionalization looms over both autistic girls after Keedie's best friend was forced into a care facility. Second of all, my grandfather also had similar abuses in school--but I am at least twenty years older than Addie which again points to a dated portrayal. My best guess is that the author translated some of her own experiences as a neurodivergent young person to this modern book without fully factoring in changes to social norms/behaviors. And, again, maybe this is more of an issue in small towns that my urban self realizes. A Kind of Spark expertly weaves Addie's personal journey with her research and advocacy for the witches creating a multi-faceted and compelling story. The inter-family dynamics with Keedie trying to attend college without requesting accomodations and Nina choosing to pursue content creation instead of college add another layer to this story that, ultimately, reminds readers to celebrate what makes them different. Possible Pairings: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin, Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
We Need More Books Like This
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll is about a girl named Adeline who is autistic. She thinks differently from the people around her, including her sister Nina. Addie’s other sister, Nina's twin, Keedie, is autistic, too, so Keedie and Addie often get along well. Keedie is Addie's biggest advocate. Addie often spends her time at school trying to avoid conversations with her teacher, Ms. Murphy, but when Addie learns about the witch trials that happened in her town, Juniper, she can't stay silent anymore. I liked this book because there are a lot of conversations about what autism looks like for girls as well as what it looks like to be an advocate for autistic girls in the classroom. Oftentimes, autistic girls are diagnosed much later in life than boys are because there's not much that people know about the differences in autistic boys and girls yet (as a result of autistic males being the first studies of autism). I had read the book Frankie and Amelia not too long ago which was also about the differences in autistic boys and girls, but this story showed the diversity that can even show up in the spectrum. For example, Keedie just shows one example of an autistic woman. Addie often learns from her sister Keedie about how her brain works. Amelia in Frankie and Amelia, on the other hand, didn't necessarily have that guide, even though Frankie tries to be that guide from an animal's perspective, so Amelia has her cat, her doctor, and her mom as the best advocates she has.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A beautiful, poignant read
This book was a beautiful, poignant read full of heart and heartache, pain and hope. It was an incredibly well-written portrayal of the struggles Addie faces, along with the beautiful friendship she develops with a girl who treats her with kindness and a desire to be understanding and supportive. Addie's family relationships are complex and nuanced and wonderful to experience through the pages of the book. This is the type of story that I feel every kid, and adult, could benefit from reading, whether it helps them to feel seen, because they're different in some way as well, or helps them see a perspective they might never experience and gain greater understanding of a life that's vastly different than their own in some ways, yet with many of the same struggles of wanting to be heard, of dealing with bullies, and of wanting friends and family who see them and support them for who they are. I felt like I learned so much through reading Addie's story, and as someone who struggles with sensory processing disorder, there were elements I could relate to, as well.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Relevant
I really liked the headstrong heroine of this novel, and her supportive family. I thought her mission to have her community reckon with unrecognized harms it committed in the past really resonated with the spirit of the times.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com