“It’s, uh, not a hat,” I say, stroking it fondly. “It’s a beret.”
“You came back for me,” she whispers, her voice a croak after being unused for so long.
“I told you. Friends always come back.”
Wherever the pieces of me go, I know who I am. I know the fragments that need to return will always find a way back, and that what is most important will never truly be gone.
I’ll be fine.
The End.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the NHS and its incredible staff for taking care of me during the writing and editing of
this novel.
Thank you to Josh. We have now survived moving house and I finally have an office. I can’t wait to write a new book in it.
Thank you to Lauren, Justine, Paul and the hardworking staff at BLM Agency.
Thank you to everyone involved in the adaptation of A Kind of Spark. 9Story, the crew, the writers and the incredible actors. It hasn’t aired while I’m writing this, but your work has been astounding.
Thank you to the whole team at Knights Of for never boxing me in. Congrats on the most-deserved Nibbie of all time!
Thank you to Annabelle at EDPR. You are the
John Williams to my movie. As in, without you, I’m pretty unimpressive.
Thank you to Frank Cottrell-Boyce for being an example of kindness, community and all that’s important in this funny little job.
Thank you to Jennifer Bell for fun on the Southbank.
Thank you to Faridah for late night Instagram chats.
Thank you to Maisie Chan, Benjamin Dean, Aisha Bushby and Ross Montgomery for a brilliant Edinburgh International Book Festival. I pray it’s not my last.
To Maz Evans, Piers Torday, M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman for a healing night in the pub before my debut at the Hay Festival. Thank you to Maya for telling me where to go and what to do when I was completely alone.
Thank you to the readers. You’re always better
than I remember, and my memories are very fond
and warm.
Thank you to my family.
Thank you to Eishar for spontaneously agreeing to a sequel and for always being the best in the business.
Thank you to Bounce and to so many incredible bookshops.
Thank you to Books Are My Bag, Waterstones, the Little Rebel Awards, Blackwell’s and BookTrust.
Thank you to all of the incredible schools who have read my books and invited me for a visit. You’re all wonderful, as are your students.
Thank you to Kay Wilson for her consistent excellence.
Thank you to every single person who generously offered to help with the Adrien Prize.
Addie, Cora and Ramya changed my life. Thank you if you’ve let them into yours. I mean it. I’ve thought about giving up on this painful, frightening, exposing and often classist job. A job where I always feel like
the poorest, weakest and most uneducated person in the room.
People who actually like your stories are the only balm. So, thank you. I’ll hold on for as long as I can.
Thank you to the booksellers. Without them, this industry would merely be a race to the bottom.
Elle McNicoll
Author
Elle McNicoll is a bestselling and award-winning novelist. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, as well as Blackwell’s Book of 2020. She is Carnegie Medal nominated, and was shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Awards 2020, the Branford Boase Award and The Little Rebels Award. Her second novel, Show Us Who You Are, was Blackwell’s Book of the Month and one of The Bookseller’s Best Books of 2021. She is an advocate for better representation of neurodiversity in publishing, and currently lives
in London.
Kay Wilson
Illustrator
