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Icy Sparks

gwyn hyman rubio

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Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby but raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences. Try as she might, her "secrets"—verbal croaks, groans, and physical spasms—keep afflicting her. As an adult, she will find out she has Tourette’s Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, but for years her behavior is the source of mystery, confusion, and deep humiliation.

Narrated by a grown up Icy, the book chronicles a difficult, but ultimately hilarious and heartwarming journey, from her first spasms to her self-acceptance as a young woman. Curious about life beyond the hills, talented, and energetic, Icy learns to cut through all barriers—physical, mental, and spiritual—in order to find community and acceptance.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1998
Places
kentucky, 

This edition

Format
320 pages, Paperback
Published
March 1, 2001 by Penguin Publishing Group
ISBN
9780142000205
ASIN
0142000205
Language
English

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About the author

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gwyn hyman rubio

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Gwyn Hyman Rubio (born August 7, 1949 in Macon, Georgia) is an American author, best known for her novel Icy Sparks.

Rubio graduated from Florida State University in 1971 with a degree in English. She then joined the Peace Corps and spent several years working as a teacher in Costa Rica. After returning to the U.S. and settling in Kentucky she became interested in writing, ultimately receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College in 1986.

She wrote for a decade before her first novel Icy Sparks was published in 1998. The book received favorable reviews from critics, but sales were modest until Icy Sparks was selected for Oprah's Book Club in 2001. Rubio's second novel, The Woodsman's Daughter, was published in 2005.

Rubio's father was Mac Hyman, author of No Time for Sergeants.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
30(30%)
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99 reviews All reviews
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Enma10th
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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If I could give it half a star I would. This book felt like it should’ve been a script, but even then it would’ve been bad. The storyline was too long and scattered. The main character was not an intriguing character. And it’s portrayal of Tourette’s seems a bit offensive.

It just felt like it was trying to do too much and in the process did nothing at all. So this was a waste.

And ya wanna know something? I don’t think Oprah really read this book at all.

Also the ending felt very out of left field and ultimately like a sermon in the end with no real build up to this point.
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momo_bp_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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So this book was weird for me because I genuinely enjoyed reading it - I wasn’t bored out of my head. But I thought there’d be more discussion of the diagnosis etc and there was none whatsoever, then the epilogue is like “yeah I have Tourette’s” and goes on about the diagnosis that we never got. The end seemed surreal to me? Very out of place. My rating for this book changed every like 80 pages or so lol
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Adocelle
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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For Kaska-boom: I was so frustrated by this book! I didn't really like Icy although I did feel for her and her struggle. The people who loved her but really did nothing to help her were part of my frustration. Icy's struggle with her disorder and inability or unwillingness to share what was going on inside her were a part of my frustration. The fact that no one really seemed to do anything to try to understand her was part of my frustration. The characters like Mamie Tillman and Miss Emily who I thought would figure in so importantly left me questioning why they were even in the story. And the ending!!! Oh my goodness, what a stupendous disappointment. This might be the worst Oprah book I've ever read. It's definitely the biggest disappointment.
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RetardedHyena
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I should have stopped reading it when I wasn't captured by page 75 (a good rule of thumb from what I've been told). I kept hoping they're was going to be a big ending that would excite me, and all the way until the last page, I was bored and annoyed that I wasted my time on it. The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because it was interesting to see life through the lens of the main character. But as a whole, it was disappointing. From now on, I'm going to follow that rule of thumb!
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bubblelovexD
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I picked this book because it one of Oprah's book club selections. In the beginning of the book I found her story a bit amusing, but towards the end I just wanted to finish the book just to end it. The last few chapters were a complete drag, I found myself scanning and not reading each word just to get through the pages without throwing it across the room. Overall, I didn't like this book.
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HotaruMiyu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I read this while in quarantine because there was no other fiction in the house. It was PAINFUL. I kept on hoping it would get better, but it was a saccharin sweet, overblown, self consciously "literary" book that didn't even rise to the level of High Trash. (Which I define as well written fiction without a lot behind it). This was just BAD. All the cliches: the super fat Southern friend, the super smart but misunderstood main misfit character. The loving grandparents. The quirky townspeople. Ugh. Just Ugh. And to top it all off, her whole issue is "resolved" by her finding Jesus. Seriously? I skipped those passages because....deus ex machina?!?!?? Really? A must miss.
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kyotoprincess
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Finally finished. This felt like a painful one to get through. An extremely weak plot with no real progress. It took me over 24 hrs to finish the last 10 pages. Overall, it took a turn for the worst in the last 6-7 chapters. I am glad this one is done so I can move on to something better.
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opensoul
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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It could have been better. The build up of characters and plot was going well at the beginning. It started to decline and get all muddled up when Icy was at the institution. The characters, events, and relationships became so weak and confusing. There was no clear explanation as to what finally made them decide to send Icy home, no clear diagnosis or even a prognosis of what Icy had, and there was no resolution to Wilma's case. (The revelation of the Tourette Syndrome came at the epilogue.) The last part became even worse, with the idea of religion too injected that it was like bringing all its readers into some fanatic devotion meeting of some sort.

I wonder what happened to the author?! It could have been a good story. She had good characters to work on, her writing style was potential, with natural humor ... but something seemed to have gone amiss along the way. Could she have been in a hurry to wrap up the book and turn it in to the publisher without giving it a second read? Or did she get bored with Icy that she wanted to just end it and start a new writing project?

Can anybody tell me how this book got Oprah Book Club label?
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