54 pages • 1-hour read
A Kind of Spark
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Chapters 1-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, ableism, bullying, and child abuse.
Chapter 1 Summary
Addie Darrow is an 11-year-old girl with autism. One day, her teacher, Ms. Murphy, lambasts her publicly for her messy handwriting, accusing her of being lazy. She also rips up a story that Addie wrote for class.
Upset by this injustice, Addie takes comfort in her pocket thesaurus, a gift from her older sister Keedie. After class, Addie rushes to the library, which is her sanctuary from the sensory overstimulation of the school corridors. She spends a great deal of time in the library and has struck up a friendship with the librarian, Mr. Allison. Now, he gives her a book on sharks that he has kept aside for her, knowing that sharks are one of Addie’s special interests. (She identifies with sharks because she feels that they are also misunderstood.)
Chapter 2 Summary
Addie arrives home to find her father cooking dinner. He gives her a slightly different dish from the rest of the family—plain pasta—because her sensory challenges are triggered by certain foods. She sits quietly for a moment, and her father gives her space because he understands that she needs time to adjust to the transition of being at home. She eagerly awaits Keedie’s return.
Nina, Addie’s other sister and Keedie’s twin, is an online beauty influencer. She is neurotypical and is less considerate of Addie’s autism than the other members of the family are. Just then, Keedie arrives home, climbing in through the window. Addie hugs her; Keedie is the only person she frequently touches, and like Addie, she also has autism.
After dinner, Keedie and Addie go for a walk together and discuss Ms. Murphy’s criticism of Addie’s handwriting. Keedie explains that Addie’s difficulties with handwriting come from her challenges with motor skills. Keedie explains and contextualizes many features of Addie’s autism. She also reveals that she hasn’t yet told anyone in her university about her own autism because most people do not understand how her neurodivergence impacts her and her needs.
Chapter 3 Summary
Addie approaches her friend Jenna as they are waiting for class, asking if Jenna would like to sit with her during lunch. Emily, a student who frequently bullies Addie, interjects and tells Addie that no one wants to have lunch with her. However, Audrey, a new girl from England, sticks up for Addie and says that she’ll have lunch with her.
Ms. Murphy announces a new project focusing on the Scottish witch trials. Addie is excited by the topic and asks several questions, each of which is dismissed or mocked by Ms. Murphy and the class. As Ms. Murphy talks about the Witch Trails, Addie is struck by how unfair the trials were, especially when she learns that the only way to avoid persecution was to avoid being different or drawing attention from the community. Emily pipes up to remark that Addie would have been burned at the stake. The class laughs, and Ms. Murphy joins in. Addie asks if there is a memorial for the women who were executed, and Ms. Murphy dismisses her yet again.
Later, Addie rushes to the library to read more about the trials. Audrey joins her and says that she is sorry about how Addie is mistreated in class. She then sits down and reads with Addie in silence.
Chapter 4 Summary
Addie brings her entire family to the village hall for the town council meeting because she wants to propose a motion. She advocates for the creation of a new memorial for the village, commemorating the women who were executed during the witch trials. Mr. Macintosh, the chairman, denies the proposal because he is worried that such a memorial could tarnish the town’s image and affect tourism.
At home, Nina asks Addie if she wants to appear in one of her videos. While filming, Nina asks Addie to explain her autism to viewers—something that Addie does not want to do. Addie then asks if Keedie is okay, and Nina explains that the big changes of attending university are exhausting for her.
Chapter 5 Summary
Addie walks in the woods with Keedie, thinking about witches. Addie recalls a time in the past when she and her sisters were put in the care of an abusive babysitter. The abuse triggered a meltdown in Keedie, which in turn triggered a meltdown in Addie. (People with autism sometimes experience meltdowns as an intense emotional response to an overwhelming situation, engaging in involuntary actions.) As a result of Addie’s meltdown, she involuntarily attacked the babysitter. A neighbor intervened, hearing the commotion and rescuing the girls.
Now, Keedie takes Addie’s mind off these memories by asking her about the women branded as witches, and Addie says that her favorite is called Maggie. The sisters spot Mr. Macintosh in town, and Addie asks him to reconsider his decision about her proposal, but he dismisses her. Addie resolves to bring the matter up again at the next meeting.
Chapter 6 Summary
Audrey and Addie walk home from school together, talking about how Addie’s autism influences her approach to reading and schoolwork. She can focus on something very deeply if it captures her interest, but if it doesn’t, she struggles to pay attention. Audrey reveals that she watched Nina’s video; she then asks Addie for more information about autism. Addie explains, and later, she realizes that her former friend Jenna never took an interest in her autism.
Inside, Nina and Keedie are having a serious conversation at the kitchen table. Addie pretends to go upstairs, but instead, she eavesdrops and learns that Keedie is angry at Nina for exposing Addie to an online audience. Addie goes online to see read the comments on Nina’s video. The comments have been deleted, but there is a reply video that refers to Addie as a “modern tragedy,” and the comments associated with this video are deeply ableist.
When Keedie checks on her, Addie declares that she wishes she did not have autism. Keedie tells her not to wish that, and Addie reveals that Ms. Murphy tore up her story in front of the class.
Chapter 7 Summary
Addie and her class take a school trip to a river called the Water of Leith. After a short confrontation with Emily, Addie partners up with Audrey for the day. Mr. Patterson serves as the class’s tour guide. He brings them into the woods and tells the story of two women, Jean and Mary, who were persecuted for witchcraft. Addie finds the topic distressing, especially the mention of torture. As she becomes overstimulated, she begins to move away from the class group, but she is unable to avoid a meltdown. Mr. Patterson and Audrey try to comfort her, but Ms. Murphy is unsympathetic. Mr. Patterson tries to cheer Addie up; Addie is upset that by the idea that Mary was killed simply for being different. Mr. Patterson makes a casually ablest remark, and when Addie admits that she has a disability, he panics and stutters.
Chapters 1-7 Analysis
As the first section of A Kind of Spark introduces Addie’s experience of the world as a girl with autism, McNicoll uses these scenes to demonstrate the biases that Addie and others like her often endure. From the very beginning, it is clear that the novel is meant to do the difficult work of Combating Prejudice Against Neurodiversity. McNicoll shows how the people of Addie’s village treat her, particularly those who aren’t sensitive to the various manifestations of her autism. Most notably, Ms. Murphy, Addie’s teacher, is extremely dismissive and cruel, and her blatant mistreatment of Addie signals to rest of the class that bullying Addie is acceptable. As a result, Addie’s former best friend, Jenna, distances herself, and Emily torments and humiliates Addie outright. These dynamics are a common experience for people with autism whose needs go unsupported, as their struggles with social cues and traditional classroom environments often single them out for criticism, leaving them feeling alienated, isolated, and judged.
Just as many people with autism take refuge in calmer spaces, Addie’s only form of solace comes from the quiet that she finds in the library. Her autism makes her highly sensitive to visual and aural stimuli, and Mr. Allison, the librarian, displays a great deal of understanding and compassion. He speaks to her on her terms, is always mindful of her needs, and encourages her to develop her interests, even going so far as to select and hold a book on sharks for her. His mentorship stands as a stark contrast to Ms. Murphy’s abuse, and by honoring The Importance of External Support Systems, he shows that adults can create a positive, nurturing environments for children with autism. Because Addie struggles to cope on her own, she finds it invaluable to have a reliable person to turn to.
Early in the novel, McNicoll also emphasizes the importance of the relationship between Addie and her elder sister Keedie, who attended the same school as Addie and had some of the same teachers, including the infamous Ms. Murphy. Keedie was diagnosed with autism as well, and she now sees herself as someone who can guide Addie and protect her from the poor treatment that she herself endured when she was Addie’s age. Keedie is a confrontational, outspoken person who always tells Addie to be loud and proud about her autism, but now that she is dealing with the complexities of university life, she keeps her own autism a secret, and her decision to engage in masking touches on the difficulties of combating prejudice against neurodiversity. Keedie would prefer to openly acknowledge her autism in every setting, but she is painfully aware that the widespread social stigma against people with autism sometimes renders the act of unmasking a risky choice at best. For this reason, Keedie is forced to mask in her academic life, suppressing her natural autistic behaviors and trying to pass as a neurotypical person. This façade—which is undertaken to keep herself safe—goes against everything she has ever told Addie. Thus, while Keedie plays a vital role in Addie’s support system, she also behaves in a way that confuses Addie and doesn’t encourage her to accept herself.
Due to the complex and often contrasting attitudes that the members of Addie’s support system have toward autism, Addie comes to identify with other people or creatures whom she feels are misunderstood, just like she often is. This sense of kinship inspires her deep and intense interest in sharks. Many people with autism harbor interests that go well beyond a typical hobby, becoming experts on their chosen subjects and taking great pleasure and comfort in engaging in these personal passions. With Addie’s interest in sharks, she actively draws parallels between her own heightened senses and sharks’ ability to sense bioelectric pulses, and she later comes to identify with the victims of the Scottish witch trials, who were marginalized and abused for being different. As McNicoll introduces the theme of Witches as Representations of Marginalized Individuals, this extended metaphor adds depth to Addie’s ongoing quest for justice—both for the “witches” and for herself. McNicoll also uses Addie’s behavior patterns to educate readers about the common traits shared by many people with autism, who often have a heightened sense of fairness that is referred to as “justice sensitivity.”
This desire to make things fair and right unaddressed wrongs becomes the driving force behind Addie’s proposal for a memorial to honor the women executed during the witch trials. This is a more positive outcome for her justice sensitivity; however, Addie’s need to advocate for just solutions can also lead her to feel genuine distress upon being marginalized or ignored. This pattern becomes clear during the field trip when the story of Mary’s demise triggers a meltdown. Ultimately, the first section of the book sets up the major themes and struggles that Addie must navigate as she learns to fully accept her identity.
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