Role Model by Elle McNicoll

Role Model is an outstanding book exploring society’s expectations and understanding of Autism. Heartfelt and honest, it follows Aeriel Sharpe, daughter of Britain’s newest Prime Minister, as she navigates being a teen under the scrutinising gaze of the nation.

Uprooted from her childhood in Scotland, she’s finding life in London hard. Her so-called friends don’t even try to understand her, other children laugh at uncomfortable situations and she struggles to fit in. Aeriel just wants to be “normal”. When her mum is elected Prime Minister, everything gets much worse. Thrust into the spotlight, Aeriel is forced to try to explain autism and what being austistic means for her in words that simple aren’t true. Rather than embracing who she is, her parents and the Downing Street PR staff coach her to say it “doesn’t define her” and she will succeed despite her condition. After a series of viral videos, the media and the nation embrace her as an inspirational role model for young people. Aeriel feels anything but inspirational. Followed by paparazzi, invited to formal dinenrs with royalty and used by others who want a slice of the spotlight, she just wants to find an ordinary life and some real friends. Eventually, it all becomes too much.

Aeriel’s special interest is elephants. She knows so much about them and shares heart-breaking facts about their history in the circus. Chained up, forced to perform, required to be something that is not natural, these beautiful creatures become a metaphor for Aeriel’s own life. She just wants to be free. Her older sister Fizz, who is also neurodivergent, understands Aeriel’s struggles and encourages her to find a way to love and accept herself – to become the main character in her own story. Alongside some lovely friends from the school SEND department, Aeriel begins to embrace herself.

Role Model is essential reading for teachers, parents and young people. It provides readers with an honest perspective on living as an autistic young person and how everyone’s experiences are different. This is both challenging and thought-provoking, requiring individuals to consider how they have approached people who are neurodivergent and their preconceived ideas. Role Model makes it clear that autistic young people cannot be painted with the same brush just as those who are not autistic have unique identities. It will help readers understand and empathise with another’s reality, think about how to be a supportive friend and challenge them to create realistic expectations.

There is a strong message for parents in this story. Rather than being disappointed in their child, they need to celebrate and support while trying to help them find the resources they need to be happy and successful. No child fits the perfectly imagined ideal – love should be unconditional.

As the story unfolds, Aeriel gradually becomes the main character in her own life. Supported by her sister and new friends, she is able to embrace herself, the situations life has dealt and her identity. Her neurodiversity is not a cliched “superpower” but integral to the unique, special and powerful young woman she is.

Role Model is very reminiscent of A Kind of Spark but even stronger in its reflections on what it means to an autistic young person. Following the success of the BBC production of A Kind of Spark, Role Model would make an equally exceptional television programme for young people.

Role Model will certainly be one of my top books of 2025 and one I recommend to teachers, parents and young people. I will be purchasing a copy for the brilliant SENDCO at my children’s secondary school and sharing it with a doctor friend who works with children and families to diagnose autism. Elle McNicoll deserves every ounce of praise for her writing, her honest approach and her completely captivating stories that speak to young people with acknowledgement and respect. It’s clear she sees children for who they are and champions each individual to be their own hero.

Thank you to Knights Of and Kirsten Cozens at EDPR for an early copy of this outstanding book that publishes on 4th September 2025.

Click on the covers below to find out more or purchase online:

Bookshop.org:

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

I am thrilled to have be able to use an extract from A Kind of Spark in my contemporary fiction reading comprehension book for Years 5-6:

Keedie by Elle McNicoll

Books by Kate Heap:

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