Representation: Main character with autism
Trigger warnings: Ableism, bullying

9/10, I was hoping that this book would lift my spirits after some of the other books I've read and wow did it deliver since it held up really well from the time I read it alongside other details I liked about this book. A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll starts off with the main character Addie Darrow who has autism trying to cope at her new school despite all the difficulties she may face. She alongside her class travelled to a Scottish forest so Miss Murphy can discuss about the witch hunts and Addie realises that they were killed just because they were different and she resonates with that. This starts off the main aspect of the plot where Addie campaigns for a witch memorial to be built in her hometown; initially her voice fell on deaf ears but she researched further into the witches and unraveled the dark past of her town which she brought into the spotlight, but anyways the memorial that she wanted throughout the entirety of this was actually built. I can't find anything wrong with this book other than it was short considering that it's less than 200 pages but it was worth it; the writing style was simple yet eloquent and the characters were developed and fleshed out in such a way that I could relate to them. ( )

Really powerful story about an autistic girl who discovers that her small Scottish village once killed women who were different. I love that this book both shows and tells -- we get Elle's perspective and that gives us a sense of what is happening around her and what bothers her (sensory, mostly) and why she reacts the ways she does. We also get Elle's older sisters' perspectives -- twins, one who is also autistic and one who is not. There is some significant bullying by Elle's teacher and some of her classmates. There is also significant allyship by some of Elle's teachers and one of her classmates. It feels balanced and insightful and I really enjoyed it. ( )

I was enjoying the first half of this book. The main character Addie is a very bright and likeable autistic girl, and I thought the author did a great job writing about the challenges she faced forging friendships in her classroom. However the second half had two things that lowered my opinion of the book. The character of the teacher was way overwritten and her ranting got a bit ridiculous. It was hard to take seriously. And I disliked the way the author turned Addie into a victim. I was enjoying this spirited and passionate young lady and was really disappointed with the author's choices to portray her the way she did toward the end of the story. I loved Addie but hated the direction the author chose to take the story. ( )

5.0

Wonderful own voices rep for the neurodivergent. ( )

An autistic girl struggles to negotiate life in her small Scottish village. She has a bully as a teacher and hardly any support in the school at all, beyond a sympathetic librarian (because librarians are The Best). When her class starts studying the local history of witch burnings, at first she feels overwhelmed with empathy for those long-ago women who unjustly lost their lives, but she decides to channel that energy into campaigning for a memorial for them instead.
This is another book that should be required reading in middle schools. It does such a great job of presenting the challenges of everyday life for autistic people in a way that shows they're not disabled but that the world is just not structured in a way that's at all accommodating for them. That they don't have 'special' needs, just slightly different ones from those most people have. That autism isn't something one *has*, it's something one *is*. I'm a firm believer in the idea that the way we can raise kinder, smarter, and more empathetic citizens is to have them read more books with characters who are inherently different from them. This book absolutely deserves a place on that reading list. ( )