Knights Of to publish prequel to McNicoll’s award-winning A Kind of Spark

Knights Of has announced it will publish a prequel to Elle McNicoll’s Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and Blue Peter Book Award-winning debut novel A Kind of Spark.

World rights were acquired from Lauren Gardner at Bell Lomax Moreton in a two-book deal, by editorial director Eishar Brar. Keedie, told from the perspective of Addie’s older sister, will be published on 4th April 2024 in paperback original.

The publisher says: “Set in Juniper five years before A Kind of Spark, Keedie is a powerful coming-of-age story that thoughtfully tackles bullying, navigating friendships, and the joys and difficulties of being an autistic teenager.

“As Keedie and her twin Nina approach their 14th birthday, they seem to only be growing further apart. Keedie instead feels drawn to, and fiercely protective of, their quiet younger sister Addie – who on the surface is the opposite of loud and fiery Keedie, but in fact they have more in common than anyone knows.”

McNicoll worked as a writer and consultant on the CBBC and 9Story live action TV adaptation of A Kind of Spark. She said: “I knew I would only return to the world of Juniper and the Darrow sisters if it meant giving Keedie more of a voice. She’s a very different girl to Addie, and I hope her story will encourage readers to practice the wonderful art of saying no. Readers love Keedie so much and I’m thrilled to deliver them this prequel in her voice!”

Brar said: “A Kind of Spark is beloved by so many readers; it was so warmly welcomed and supported when we published it in the lockdown of 2020 and has since grown in ways we could never have imagined. From the very first conversation about this prequel, Elle wanted to do right by those readers, and I hope in Keedie they will again find comfort, inspiration and joy.”