#keedie

[itsaspectrumcomic]

have you ever read 'A Kind Of Spark' or 'Keedie' by Elle McNicoll ? theyre wonderful books about two autistic scottish girls and theyre just so wonderful and articulate my feelings as an autistic teen perfectly and i think you should read them :3

I've read A Kind of Spark and really enjoyed it! Keedie is on my list :)

I've also seen a couple of episodes of the A Kind of Spark TV show which is lovely, and the autistic characters are played by autistic actors!

[ramyaknox]

I finished keedie. I will talk more about it soon but for now let's just say I cried so much and keedie is brilliant and the book is brilliant

[the-girl-who-dreamed]

I just finished Keedie by Elle McNicole. It's fantastic and everyone should read it

[horrorgirlreads]

Purple mini haul 💜

[standofmdfan]

Keedie by Elle Mcnicoll is the best thing I have ever read

I have been excited for this book for ages, and I haven't read anything like it. I won't spoil it (yet) but if you haven't got a copy then you absolutely should buy it now. It made me laugh, smile, cry (and I never cry at books). Keedie is a character who means so much to me and this book was everything I hoped it would be and more

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Where can I find a pdf / epub of keedie by elle mcnicoll guys I’m begging

[nyssafromtraken]

Neurotypicals are so stupid.

Thought they already knew Addie was Autistic. That's some denial.

Like real life I guess.

[mylifebeingautistic]

book review: Keedie by Elle McNicoll

Set five years before Elle McNicoll's debut A Kind of Spark, this book follows Keedie in her mission to confront the bullies in her school. The book addresses topics such as teenage popularity, standing up for what is right, and complicated relationships between siblings.

Before this book I had already read A Kind of Spark and watched its TV show adaptation, and Keedie was my favourite character of both. So I was very excited about this book from the second I first heard about it. And it didn't disappoint! This book gave me almost everything I could have wished for.

I loved getting to meet Keedie's friends, Bonnie and Angel, who are also autistic, but have different support needs to Keedie. I would have liked to have seen more of them!

Keedie's relationships with her sisters, Nina and Addie, change throughout this book. I thought their dynamics as siblings were written very well. Nina's role in the story was particularly interesting, painting a very realistic picture of what it might be like to be fourteen years old and trying to fit in.

From this point on, I will be discussing spoilers for Keedie. If you don't want to see those, stop reading here!

Firstly, I loved this scene with Keedie and Mr Allison in the library. Keedie tells Mr Allison how she didn't like the books he'd recommended to her, which were all about the main characters having an autistic sibling, rather than autistic people getting to be the heroes themselves.

"Well, I'll be on the hunt for better. The school wants more representation in the library." "Oh, there's some good stuff," I tell him. "Sherlock Holmes. Vincent Van Gogh. Mr Darcy. Jo and Beth March. Mr Dick from David Copperfield." His eyes dance with surprise. "I'm impressed. And they're all autistic?" "Sure," I say, heading for the exit. "They just don't have the paperwork."

I loved this part because it referenced some characters that I also think are autistic. Especially Beth March and Mr Darcy. I've always found them so relatable and thought they would be autistic if they were real and living in a time when they were able to express themselves and get a diagnosis. Maybe I could make another post about book characters I think are autistic. Would you find that interesting?

It crept up on us, this loss of how things used to be. People are now swept up in what other people think of them. From the choking taste of hairspray in the bathrooms to the group chats, something has shifted.

I really liked this description of the change that happens in school as you enter the teenage years. It's such a shame that it happens. Imagine how much nicer the world could be if we were all free to be ourselves, without worrying what others would think.

In the scene where Keedie speaks up for April when she is hit by the snooker ball, I liked how her differences that might be seen as a bad thing by some were useful in doing something good.

Other people have stops in their heads, like the barriers that come down to block a car from driving across train tracks. Other people keep certain words and behaviours inside, the barriers come down and they don't act. They wait. I don't have those barriers. Never have.

When Keedie confronts her sister after Nina's friends bullied Bonnie at the Founders' Day celebration, Nina says this:

"I did nothing!" Nina shouts, suddenly animated. "As usual, I did nothing wrong!"

Which I think is such an important point about how compliance and being a bystander to bullying is actually just as bad as doing the bullying itself.

"Exactly," I say coarsely. "You did nothing."

At the same time, I do feel for Nina, because I remember what it was like to be in her situation. You feel as if you have to go along with the bullies, because if you don't, they will turn on you too. And I'm glad she saw the error of her ways and apologised to Keedie at the end.

At the birthday party, this happens once again:

I silently challenge Nina with a glare. She can make all this go away. She can check her friends. She can take them somewhere else. She can stand up to them, stand up for us, for once. She can make a difference and choose not to be a bystander to her friends and their bullying tactics. But she says nothing.

I thought it was really accurate how in this scene, the type of bullying that Nina's friends use is one that might not seem like bullying to an outsider. Patronising tones, saying horrible things whilst smiling. It becomes worse later, but it is still the type of bullying that is difficult to report. Targets of bullying like this might not tell anyone because of how difficult it is to explain, or they might question whether to report at all, whether the problem is even real or if they're just overexaggerating it. I know this because it happened to me.

"Want to know the worst thing about being autistic? It's not the autism." I throw the napkin down and push back my chair. "It's people like you."

I really liked this ongoing metaphor of the North Star, as Keedie's reason to keep fighting.

If I'm a voyager of sorts, Bonnie is my North Star. I keep one eye on her at all times, no matter the state of the current, and I keep sailing towards it. She's my only North Star and that will never change.

When Keedie tries to give Angel's dad money so that Addie can go to his school, she doesn't have enough. But Angel's dad tells her:

"You be the person you needed at her age. Be her rock. Be the tree that doesn't move in the storm. You can do that, I know you can, you already are!"

I think this really influences Keedie to become the person we know in A Kind of Spark. She realises that she can't change her past, but she can change Addie's future, to make Addie's experience of growing up better than her own.

It's time to stop hunting sea monsters and start rescuing sharks. To keep gazing up at that North Star. Polaris never was just one star in the sky: it looks like a single bright light but it's made up of multiple stars.

Have you read Keedie? What did you think of it? Did you find it relatable in the same ways I did, or in different ones? Let me know in the comments!

[stuckinsquahamish]

My god would Keedie Darrow love Chappell Roan

[manicpixiedreamkay]

i was gonna post some of my book covers but lol re ai rollout, i've opted out but y'know still feels a bit icky. but anyway i more wanted to say hi guys :)

[softsyoungk]

@ autistic folks!!! You need to watch "A Kind Of Spark". It's a new series about two autistic sisters and if witches are one of your hyperfixation/special interest, then this show is for you!!! The actresses are all autistic and it's just wholesome to see such an accurate autistic representation 🤍 Keedie, Nina and Addie are everything to me, I literally cried watching every episode. The portrayal of autistic women made by autistic women is so important I cannot put into words how much this means to autistic youth. I wish I would've had this representation when I was an undiagnosed autistic teen 🫶🏻 it would have helped me so much but even now, I felt like my inner child was healing. So yeah, WATCH A KIND OF SPARK !!! ✨️✨️

Also, I truly believe that witches were autistic women

[ramyaknox]

My interpretations of the keedie soundtrack part 1.

I am not sure if elle intended this to go with the plot of the book or to just generally have the vibes of the book but I thought I'd share my thoughts on how I link some of the songs to the book.

Contains spoilers for keedie

Another brick in the wall

I think this is pretty clearly about how keedie views the school system. It does set the tone quite well I think.

Hong kong garden

I wasn't sure why this linked at first, I thought maybe keedie would just like the band but then I found this quote from the singer

"I'll never forget, there was a Chinese restaurant in Chislehurst called 'The Hong Kong Garden.' Me and my friend were really upset that we used to go there and like, occasionally when the skinheads would turn up it would really turn really ugly. These gits were just go in on mass and just terrorize these Chinese people who were working there. We'd try and say 'Leave them alone,' you know. It was a kind of tribute." (from Punk Top Ten Interview, August 6, 2001

So I think it actually links to keedie's anti bullying sentiments.

Mirrorball

This is the first track on this soundtrack that made me cry. The first time I heard it it was just a perfect description of masking. I can't tell though whether "shining just for you" is a positive or a negative. I like to think of it as when they're alone they shine for the people they love and that accept them. In keedie's case I think it would be for addie. But it could also still be masking to protect the other person or to make them happy. "I'm still a believer but I don't know why, I've never been a natural all I do is try try try" hit me really hard and also really well encompasses keedie's hope for a better future for addie despite everything she's been through and obviously she's not a natural in the ways neurotypical people are but she's trying so hard to fit in and also she's trying so hard to do the right thing.

Also it's the "I want you to know" it feels like all the things she wishes she could tell people but she doesn't because it'll break the illusion of who she is for them. Or all the things she's trying to tell them but doesn't have the words for like her scream at the founders day celebration.

I feel like this post is getting a bit long but I'll make a part 2 to do some of the other tracks!

[autisticheadcanons]

Addie Darrow and Keedie Darrow are canonically autistic sisters from the show A Kind Of Spark. It was based on the book by Elle McNicoll who helped create the show and she is also autistic. Both actors are Autistic and many autistic actors were in the show as a whole.

This show was incredible from start to finish. It's about Addie Darrow who is autistic and finds out about two autistic sisters who a few hundred years ago were accused of witchcraft and disappeared. With the help of her sister Keedie and her new best friend Addie researches the mystery of what happened while also trying to change the culture of the small town they live in. -Mod Dragon

[niamhthefae]

been watching "a kind of spark" and honestly that scene of bonnie and keedie running around the gardens feels so gay

[your-blorbos-are-queer]

keedie darrow from a kind of spark is lesbian (canon)

submitted by anonymous

[partiallypearl]

happy birthday, baby. i wonder if you hate me? 'cause i love you more than the moon and the stars