Elle McNicoll (born October 5, 1992) is a Scottish children's writer. McNicoll's debut novel, '' A Kind of Spark'' (2020) follows the efforts of an

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

eleven-year-old girl, Addie, to establish a memorial to the

witch trials A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

in her Scottish hometown. McNicoll is autistic herself. The book was children's book of the week in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', and won both the Overall and Younger Fiction prizes at the 2021

Waterstones Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is there ...

. It also won the ''

Blue Peter Book Award The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme '' Blue Peter''. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999. The Awards have been managed by reading charity, ...

'' for Best Story, voted for by children. McNicoll was also nominated for the ''

Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is sha ...

'' and was nominated for the '' Carnegie Medal''. McNicoll's debut was also named Overall Book of the Year by ''

Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Street, ...

'' , beating titles in the Adult Market. Her second novel, ''Show Us Who You Are'', was published in March, 2021, and was Children's Book of the Week in ''

''. It was also the Children's Book of the Month, as chosen by ''

''. It was nominated for Best Children's Fiction in the 2021 Books Are My Bag Awards, and McNicoll was also nominated for Best Breakthrough Author. Her third novel ''Like A Charm'' was published in February 2022 by

Knights Of Knights Of, also known as Knights Of Media, is a London-based independent publishing house, specialising in publishing inclusive children's books. History Knights Of was founded in 2017 by Aimée Felone and David Stevens, who previously worked ...

and was also Children's Book of the Week in

, as well as being reviewed as 'Another fiercely gripping, superbly original story' by

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. In 2022 McNicoll also wrote a story as part of the crime anthology ''The Very Merry Murder Club'' edited by Serena Patel and

Robin Stevens Robin Gordon Stevens (born 30 January 1960) is an English puppeteer, actor, director and writer for children's TV for nearly 30 years, and has done many successful programmes. These include ''Pob's Programme'', '' Corners'', ''Teletubbies'', ...

. McNicoll was awarded an honour by the Schneider Family Book Award in 2022 for the US edition of A Kind of Spark. McNicoll has been described as "undoubtedly an outstanding new talent in children’s books howill inspire readers young and old for generations to come”. Her debut novel has also been optioned for a television adaptation and McNicoll is involved in the development of the script. McNicoll has been an outspoken advocate for better representations of neurodiversity in publishing. In 2022, McNicoll established The Adrien Prize, a prize for traditionally published children's books with a disabled lead character. The longlist for The Adrien Prize 2022 was announced on twitter and included: The Night the Moon Went Out by

Samantha Baines Samantha Louise Baines (born 1987 in Southwark, London) is an English actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her appearances in ''Magic Mike Live London'', ''The Crown'' (Netflix), '' Lee Nelson's Well Funny People'' (BBC Three), ...

, The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton, A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Bushby, Wilder Than Midnight by

Cerrie Burnell Claire "Cerrie" Burnell (born 30 August 1979) is an English actress, singer, playwright, children's author, and former television presenter for the BBC children's channel CBeebies. In 2018, she portrayed the role of Penny Stevenson in the BBC so ...

, The Great Fox Illusion by Justyn Edwards and The Extraordinary Adventures of Alice Tonks by Emily Kenny. She currently lives in East London.

Works

* ''A Kind of Spark''. London: Knights of, 2020. * ''Show Us Who You Are''. London: Knights of, 2021. * ''Like A Charm''. London: Knights of, 2022.

References

External links

Official website
Living people Scottish children's writers British women children's writers 21st-century Scottish women writers People on the autism spectrum 1992 births {{UK-child-writer-stub