Elle McNicol, Keedie, Walker Books Australia, August 2024, 224 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781913311988
This middle grade novel is the prequel to A Kind of Spark which won the Blue Peter Book Award in the UK and was a nominee for the prestigious Carnegie award. While I haven’t read the first book, I was familiar with the fictional world of Juniper through the wonderful TV adaptation which is currently screening on ABC iView.
The voice of Keedie had me hooked on this novel from the first page. And the opening scene in which she’s perched in a tree taking revenge on bullies with a giant water pistol is a cracker. Keedie’s autism is the framework for her view of the world. And while she fears for her little sister, Addie, who she intuits is also autistic, she inadvertently acts as a kickass role model. Keedie doesn’t suffer fools. Unlike her twin sister Nina, she’s not interested in being popular. Her neurodiverse friends are the ‘real’ people that she prefers to spend time with and her loyalty and willingness to defend them is admirable. She struggles to understand Nina’s impulse to make herself small to fit in.
This book would make a great class read or book group choice for younger secondary school readers. It offers multiple entry points for readers – the exploration of sibling relationships, the realistic depiction of living with autism, the theme of bullying and the slight mystery of surrounding the town’s history.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
