The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius - Kristine Barnett

You guys know I don't do 'heartwarming.' If people aren't dying of plague or locking their mad wives up in the attic then I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT.

And The Spark starts off, like, the worst. Kristine is dating a guy who she thinks is about to propose, but her sister dupes her into dinner with some guy the sister has a class with, and they're talking and Kristine knows 'instantly' that she's going to marry this guy she's known 'less than an hour' instead of her boyfriend. And when people in novels are like, 'I had no choice in the matter,' I am like, POOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, YOU LAZY AUTHOR. But when people do it In Real Life, I am like

Anyway, the first few chapters are like that, a lot of We are the most special, and Our love is the most precious, and I go on about this only because it almost kept me from reading the rest of the book.

But ok. Then they have a son named Jake and there is something off about him and because it's, like, the 80s, no one knows anything about autism except for Rainman and her baby isn't counting toothpicks, so. But you're reading this and you're like, He's clearly autistic, and then she gets him tested and HEY, he is.


And the specialists are all like, He'll never learn to read or take care of himself or whatever, But Kristine is like, FUCK THAT NOISE (only she's super-religious, so it's more like, Stuff and nonsense!) and not only does she start turning her son's Highly Specific Interests into a way to reach him and draw him out, but she starts a 'school' for children with autism in the evenings where she teaches other parents how to do likewise.

And this, ok. This is like Child Education 101 these days, but in those days there was no road map, and Kristine just sort of goes with her gut, and tries and fails, and she's just so damn COMMITTED. Also, she runs a daycare out of her home during the day. And then she has a second son with a kaleidoscope of health issues who is almost constantly dying for his first few years, and THEN she has a STROKE and it turns out she has LUPUS.

And through all this she just keeps offering Jake ways to be himself, and tools for operating in the outside world. She enrolls him in classes in the university because his boredom with the third grade causes him to withdraw. But she also starts an athletic program for autistic children, for whom group sports can sometimes be impossible, so that they can learn what it feels like to play on a team.

The whole book is basically Story of Drastic Change following Story of Drastic Change, underlined by Jake's Story of Drastic Change. It boggles the mind and stirs the emotions and I DIDN'T WANT TO LIKE IT (because of all the saccharinity) but I did. It made me feel feelings like a swelling of violins.


Eight and a half caterpillars!