Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’"


Donaldson, Hutchinson and MacPhail win Royal Mail Awards

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 23/02/2011 - 08:40 Julia Donaldson, Barry Hutchinson and Catherine MacPhail have been named the winners of Scotland's largest children's book prize, the 2010 Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books. More than 16,000 children voted for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lure of IPad Subscriptions May Outweigh Pain for Publishers

There may not be a ton of enthusiasm in the publishing world for Apple's new policy for subscription services--particularly when it comes to giving Cupertino a... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Debut author wins Waterstone's Children's Book Prize

Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 20:05 Debut author Sita Brahmachari has won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize for her coming-of-age novel about life, death, friendship and love. She was awarded the £5,000 prize this evening [9th February] for Artichoke Hearts, published by Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this