Elle McNicoll

Elle McNicoll
McNicoll, in Waterstones, Kensington, 2024
Born
Elle McNicoll

(1992-10-05) 5 October 1992
Edinburgh, Scotland[1]
Alma materUniversity College London
OccupationsChildren's Author, screenwriter
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
Years active2020-present
Notable worksA Kind of Spark
Show Us Who You Are
Notable awards2021 Waterstones Children's Book Prize
2021 Blue Peter Book Award

Elle McNicoll (born 5 October 1992) is a Scottish children's literature writer. The Guardian described her as "undoubtedly an outstanding new talent in children's books [who] will inspire readers young and old for generations to come".[2]

Biography

McNicoll's debut novel, A Kind of Spark (2020), follows the efforts of an autistic[3] eleven-year-old girl, Addie, to establish a memorial to the witch trials in her Scottish hometown. McNicoll is autistic herself.[4] The book was children's book of the week in The Times and The Sunday Times,[5][6] and won both the Overall and Younger Fiction prizes at the 2021 Waterstones Children's Book Prize.[7] It also won the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story, voted for by children.[8] McNicoll was nominated for the Branford Boase Award[9] and the Carnegie Medal. Her debut was named Overall Book of the Year by Blackwell's, beating titles in the Adult Market.[10] McNicoll was awarded an honour by the Schneider Family Book Award in 2022 for the US edition of A Kind of Spark. It was listed as number 75 in The 100 Greatest Children's Books of All Time by the BBC.[11]

Her second novel, Show Us Who You Are, was published in March, 2021, and was Children's Book of the Week in The Times.[12] It was also the Children's Book of the Month, as chosen by Blackwell's.[13] 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.[14]

Her third novel, Like a Charm, was published in February 2022 by Knights Of and was also Children's Book of the Week in The Times,[15] as well as being reviewed as "another fiercely gripping, superbly original story" by The Guardian.[16] In 2022 McNicoll also wrote a story as part of the crime anthology The Very Merry Murder Club[17] edited by Serena Patel and Robin Stevens.

A Kind of Spark was optioned for a television series from CBBC, with McNicoll acting as co-head writer on the programme.[18] It premiered on BBC iPlayer in the UK on 31 March 2023.[19] In 2023, Macmillan won a five-publisher auction for the rights to two of McNicoll's young adult novels, Some Like it Cold (2024) and Wish You Were Her (2025).[20][21]

McNicoll also wrote and recorded an essay for BBC Radio 3's The Essay.[22] The subject was Nora Ephron, a heroine of McNicoll's.

Keedie, the prequel to A Kind of Spark, was published in 2024. In an episode of In the Reading Corner, McNicoll talked about her nuanced exploration of teenage bullying and the stereotyping of neurodivergent characters.[23]

Personal life

McNicoll was born and raised in Scotland[23] and currently lives in London.[24] She earned a master's degree in publishing from University College London in 2019, with her dissertation being on why children’s publishing needs more neurodiversity.[25]

Advocacy

McNicoll has been an outspoken advocate for better representations of neurodiversity in publishing.[26] She has been credited with kickstarting a revolution in publishers' attitudes to neurodiverse characters.[27] In 2022, McNicoll established The Adrien Prize, a prize for traditionally published children's books with a disabled lead character.[28] The longlist for The Adrien Prize 2022 was announced on Twitter and included The Night the Moon Went Out by Samantha Baines, The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton, A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Bushby, Wilder Than Midnight by Cerrie Burnell, The Great Fox Illusion by Justyn Edwards and The Extraordinary Adventures of Alice Tonks by Emily Kenny.[29]

Works

Novels

  • —— (2020). A Kind of Spark. London: Knights Of.
  • —— (2021). Show Us Who You Are. London: Knights Of.
  • —— (2022). Like a Charm. London: Knights Of.
  • —— (2023). Like a Curse. London: Knights Of.
  • —— (2024). Keedie. Knights Of.
  • —— (2024). Some Like It Cold. Wednesday Books.
  • —— (2025). Wish You Were Her. First Ink.
  • —— (2025). Role Model. Knights Of.
  • —— (2026). Unapologetic Love Story. Macmillan.

Scripts

  • A Kind of Spark, 2023.

Short stories

References

  1. ↑ Ellouise, Lisa (July 2021). "Elle McNicoll School Visit". glowscotland.org.uk. Elle McNicoll is an author born and raised in Edinburgh.
  2. ↑ "Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: 'I never saw autistic girls in books'". TheGuardian.com. July 2021.
  3. ↑ McNicoll, Elle (6 July 2020). ""I write about anything and everything, but I always write about neurodiversity": Elle McNicoll on being a neurodivergent author". BookTrust. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  4. ↑ McNicoll, Elle. "Stories from the Spectrum: Elle McNicoll". National Autistic Society. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  5. ↑ Alex O'Connell, Children's Book of the Week: A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, The Times, 6 June 2020. Accessed 7 June 2020.
  6. ↑ Nicolette Jones, Children's book of the week: A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, Sunday Times, 7 June 2020. Accessed 7 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "'A Kind of Spark' wins Waterstones Children's Book Prize". Books+Publishing. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Blue Peter Book Awards 2022". Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Getten, McNicoll, Mann and Pearson feature on Branford Boase shortlist | the Bookseller".
  10. ↑ "McNicoll bags Blackwell's Book of the Year | the Bookseller".
  11. ↑ "The 100 greatest children's books of all time". www.bbc.com.
  12. ↑ O'Connell, Alex. "Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll review — tween boy-meets-girl love story meets sci-fi horror".
  13. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Blackwell's Children's Book of the Month, March 2021 - Show Us Who You Are. YouTube.
  14. ↑ "Rashford, Sethi and McAnulty on Books Are My Bag Readers Awards shortlists". The Bookseller.
  15. ↑ O'Connell, Alex. "Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll review — a wildly imaginative world of secrets and spells". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "Children's and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels". the Guardian. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  17. ↑ "I Will Be Writing a Neurodivergent Detective Story for Crime Anthology | Blog | Elle McNicoll". I Will Be Writing a Neurodivergent Detective Story for Crime Anthology | Blog | Elle McNicoll. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  18. ↑ "BBC orders 'A Kind Of Spark' adaptation from Canada's 9 Story Media". TBI Vision. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "A Kind of Spark to premiere on BBC iPlayer, CBBC, BYUtv and CBC!". 24 March 2023.
  20. ↑ Brown, Lauren (10 February 2023). "Macmillan Children's Books triumphs in five-way auction for award-winning McNicoll's YA debut". The Bookseller. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  21. ↑ Hill, Amelia (14 June 2023). "Books with neurodivergent characters mark new chapter for publishers". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  22. ↑ "BBC Radio 3 - Schedules, 25 September - 1 October 2023". BBC.
  23. 1 2 "Elle McNicoll: Keedie - Just Imagine". Just Imagine - In The Reading Corner podcast. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  24. ↑ "Sessions Details". www.londonbookfair.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  25. ↑ UCL (2 May 2023). "Award-winning book by UCL alumna made into TV series". UCL Alumni. Archived from the original on 18 February 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  26. ↑ "Elle McNicoll on being a neurodivergent author | BookTrust".
  27. ↑ Hill, Amelia (14 June 2023). "Books with neurodivergent characters mark new chapter for publishers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  28. ↑ "Prizes for disabled writers: Four awards celebrating disability". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  29. ↑ "The Adrien Prize". Twitter. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
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