A Glimmer of Change
by Elle McNicoll
Middle School    Random    208 pp.
10/25    9780593902462    $17.99

Almost-fourteen-year-old Keedie, an autistic girl, is loyal, creative, funny, rebellious, arrogant, a passionate defender of the underdog, and her own worst enemy, equal parts clear-eyed and totally misguided. In this prequel to the well-received A Kind of Spark (rev. 11/21), McNicoll loops back for another perspective on Keedie and her small-town Scottish family: parents; twin sister Nina; and younger sister Addie (the first book’s protagonist). Keedie and Nina have hit adolescence, and their former close relationship has frayed. Their parents are kind but distracted. Teachers just don’t understand her. Social life is a minefield of mysterious unwritten rules and cues, alliances, and cruelties. In an attempt to root out bullying at school, Keedie sets up a business, charging victims a fee to confront their tormenters, a plot strand that is both uncomfortable and hilarious as we readers thrill to the frisson of revenge even as we know its inevitable pitfalls. Keedie is highly articulate, and she has a lot to say, resulting in a talky novel that veers toward a nonfiction introduction to autism spectrum disorder. But its strength lies in that very voice. Keedie is not a generic example of neurodivergence but rather a convincingly real and individual character, negotiating the challenges of growing up in her own off-center and slyly charming way.

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.