A Kind of Spark

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Metaphors and similes – including identifying and using metaphorical language and discussing the key themes of the book Shout-Out: To Little Shop of Horrors. Audrey refers to the 1986 movie when she explains that she was named after the plant in the movie, which was actually named after one of the human characters. A Kind of Spark is a middle grade novel by Elle McNicoll, published on 4 June 2020, by Knights Of Media. The book follows Addie, "an autistic 11-year-old [who] seeks to memorialize the women once tried as witches in her Scottish village." [1] The book was commissioned as a CBBC television adaptation, with McNicoll acting as head writer for the series Addie is a young, autistic girl living in a small village near Edinburgh. When she learns about the innocent women who lost their lives during the witch trials centuries before, she makes it her mission to honour and memorialise them. Unfortunately, in a village where prejudice against anyone who is different is rife, Addie finds her mission to be much harder than she first realised. Stealing the Credit: Doesn't exactly happen, but Addie is given no credit for the memorial she spent most of the book trying to have made. She doesn't mind too much, because at least the memorial was made.

The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction ( Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943. When Addie starts to learn about the witch trials in her hometown, she understand that there's more to them than just their story. Just as she knows there's more to her. Addie is autistic. She sees the world through different eyes, with a different mind. But can she challenge the way other people see her, when she fights for a memorial plaque for the witches of the past? 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. On winning the Blue Peter Award, Elle said: "As someone who grew up watching Blue Peter and discovering brilliant new books from the show, it is an extraordinary moment to be recognised. To be a part of their World Book Day celebrations is great, and to have been voted the winner by readers is life changing.”

Elle McNicoll Press Reviews

The Atoner: In the series, Jenna realizes how cruel she's been to Addie and how her complacency in Emily's bullying has negatively affected her friendship with Addie, and with Audrey's help, she gets the courage to not only stand up to Ms. Murphy on Addie's behalf, but call out Emily for what she's done. Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > Every classroom library should have this little, powerful book on their shelves. It just goes to show how important OwnVoices books are. Many students might feel seen, others will learn to show kindness and compassion and to not underestimate someone simply because they are different to you. I got this book from the library in attempt to get my daughter to read it. She didn't want to so I decided to do so. I thought it was an amazing book. It's about a girl who is autistic. She describes how she can feel and see things more then others. She learns about the witch trials and greatly felt for all the women who were killed. She is bullied at school even by a teacher. I think the author really brings to light of the struggles that can be felt for those on the spectrum or even just different then neurotypical people. Yes their is the bit of her punching a child when she was bullied or when she talks about the time she bites the babysitter. Theirs also a part that she mentions a girl being put in an institution for being different but i don't feel these things are bad for a child to read. All in all I feel this book is suppose to bring to light that just because a person is different or "weird" that it doesn't mean they shouldnt be heard by others. Their thoughts and opinions count just as much as anyone else. I highly recommend the read. It brought me moments of laughter and even some tears. It is the story of Addie Darrow, an eleven-year-old autistic girl living in the village of Juniper, just outside of Edinburgh, who struggles to navigate the complicated world around her, from home to school, where she is often bullied, both by her former friend Jenna and her teacher Ms Murphy. A sensitive and imaginative girl, Addie’s special interests include sharks and looking up new words in her thesaurus, but one day a lesson in Juniper’s local history sparks a new passion, witches, specifically her village’s status as having executed the most women accused of witchcraft than anywhere else in Britain. The more Addie learns about the alleged witches leads her to believe that they may have autistic like her, prompting her to start a campaign for the village to put up a memorial to the Juniper witches.

Town with a Dark Secret: Juniper is a quaint little Scottish village... that also killed several women for witchcraft in its past and shuns autistic children and adults in the present day.People aren't like books. A familiar book is always the same, always comforting and full of the same words and pictures. A familiar person can be new and challenging, no matter how many times you try to read them." This book is about a girl called Addie and she has autism but that does not stop her from being different. She finds interest in the history of accusation of whiches. She feels sorry for them and asked the village for a memorial.

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. Big Sister Instinct: Nina and Keedie both fiercely defend Addie to her cruel teacher when she's almost suspended for beating up a bully.De debuutroman Een soort vonk is McNicoll’s reactie, als niemand anders het doet, dan doet ze het zelf wel. Het resultaat is een boek over anders zijn, maar vooral een boek over dat anders zijn betekent dat je dan juist dingen kunt zien vonken. THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY YA'LL. 5 stars. A middle grade book about an young 11 year old autistic girl - Addie - who lives in a small town in Scotland near Edinburgh. She learns about innocent women who lost their lives during the witch trials centuries ago and she sets out to honor those falsely accused so long ago. But not everyone wants her to do this... Addie's sister, Kaddie - is also autistic and is in college and helps her along the way. Addie goes through so much in this book. SO MANY ADULTS SHOULD READ THIS! It truly gives you the perspective of an autistic child. The importance of understanding sensory overload and overstimulation. Reading books to children has lots of amazing benefits - even when they're learning to read (or can read) themselves. We think you'll love sharing these great titles.

A prequel novel centring on Keedie, simply titled Keedie, was announced, with a release date of April of 2024. 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. We have fallen in love with Addie, whose courage and determination are a guiding light, often reminding the world that kindness must prevail wherever we go,” added Martin.Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close Emily bullies Addie because she has dyslexia or something similar, and tries to make herself feel better by making others feel worse. A Kind of Spark by Scottish author Elle McNicoll follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl who campaigns for her town to erect a memorial to the women murdered during the Scottish witch trial. I wasn’t expecting this to touch me so profoundly in the way that it did. I was diagnosed when I was four years old and it took me a while to understand that I was viewing and experiencing the world differently from others. I went through school being ridiculed by teachers and fellow students for the way I handled things or acted in some moments and it wasn’t until I was much older that I understood it was because I was different.