A Kind of Spark

Sparky autistic heroine Addie Darrow is full of hope and excitement about the new school year but, despite her sister Keedie's best attempts to prepare and protect her, she faces immediate challenges. Feeling overloaded, Addie ends up having a meltdown on a field trip into the woods after learning about the witch trials that took place in her village. She feels a deep connection with the women who were hunted down and persecuted just for being different.

Addie is invited to present her case for a witch memorial to Juniper town council and spends the day preparing her speech. At home, Nina offers to do Addie's hair and makeup for the meeting, and records a vlog for her channel about it, asking Addie on camera what it's like to be autistic. Addie enjoys being part of Nina's world, and heads for the village feeling pretty confident.

Audrey comes over to apologise to Addie about missing the meeting. She finds Addie researching into Juniper's history of witches. She's made a map of the village with all the places where women accused of witchcraft lived, and has made a witch list. The girls set about going door to door to spread the word about Juniper's witches and trying to get people to light a candle. But they get a cold response from the village and receive a warning to drop their campaign from grumpy villager Miriam.

The sisters and Frank head to the city. Addie and Frank head to the University Library looking for information about what happened to Maggie. Meanwhile Nina and Keedie have fun shopping at a vintage store. In the past, Elinor is also planning a party as a means to prove that her family are fine, upstanding folk, and above the accusations of witchcraft. When Addie finds the census records she is devastated to learn that Elinor accused Maggie of witchcraft. This act of betrayal derails Addie.

It's the day of Nina and Keedie's birthday party and Addie has spent hours preparing the village hall. Her mind keeps turning to Maggie and Elinor in the 16th century, wondering how things could have gone so wrong for two sisters. Things go well, until Emily gatecrashes and Keedie experiences sensory overload in front of her new friends who don't realise that she is autistic. In 16th century Juniper, Elinor's party also ends badly when Maggie steps in to protect her friend Beth.

Addie decides to raise the funds for the memorial herself, and the girls set about making posters and flyers which they plan to hand out during the Nicest Village competition. The village council are determined to add to their three year winning streak and Mr Macintosh is keen to make sure they day goes perfectly. Meanwhile, Keedie is avoiding her new friends because she's worried they will treat her differently now that they know she's autistic. And Nina is avoiding Frank.