A story about Icy Sparks. She is a girl with golden yellow hair, raised in the 1950s, and an orphan child brought up by her grandparents (her mother and father died not too long after she was born). Icy suffers from tourettes (which she doesn't find out until later in life) and has fits of croaks, curses, and arm flailings. She befriends Miss Emily (an older woman and an outcast who weighs over 300 pounds) to find a common bond.

Icy's 4th grade year is miserable because of a teacher who constantly picks on her and unrellenting peers. Her behavior isolates her from other students at school with urges that cannot be controlled. Mr Wooten (her principal) puts her in a classroom alone, separating her from the rest of her class. After a fit of rage when Mr Wooten tries to rearrage the classroom after Icy catagorizes items by colors, she is sent to an institution for help.

In the institution she doesn't fit in and isn't like other patients. Some of the nurses befriend her and she finds out one of the nurses mistreats her patients badly. Icy tries to control her tics and urges by the doctor's advice. When she nears the end of her stay the entire faculty puts on a Christmas show. She discovers she has a voice that can move an audience. A gift she realizes she hasn't discovered until this time.

Back at home she is miserable. Afraid to go out into the public because of her spells. Has a romance with a former grade school student which ends on a sour note. Nothing goes her way.

**Spoiler**

Towards the end of the book she is forced to attend church by her Grandmother. At first she is freaked out by its members speaking in tongues and having outbursts. She discovers this is what she needs to cure her. She starts singing again and realizes her voice is a gift to God. With her gift she joins as many church choirs as she can and discovers her tourettes really was a blessing in disguise.

Unusual topic. An intelligent, sweet, poetic child in the 50's deals with the repetitive verbal and "croaks" mannerisms of Tourette's Syndrome. Icy lives an isolated, alienated, life in rural Kentucky. Her grandparents and an older, obese mentor, give Icy the positive outlook and support she needs to understand the world she lives in. It is said that a person only needs one adult to love us unconditionally and we can develop the resilience to overcome adversity. Great read.

I know God led me to read this book at a time that I really needed it most. It filled me with the Holy Spirit. It was an awesome book, even if Oprah liked it. This review may turn some away, which makes me sad. But, it was thought provoking and the characters were rich and insightful. I'm a better person having read it.

This was very much in the vein of the 90s historical fiction that just tells you the story about a person different from you. Not a lot of action, not a strong conclusion but I still enjoyed it. If you enjoy 90s historical fiction, I think you should definitely add this to your TBR.

I was a little concerned by how critical some of the reviews on this book were when I started it. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s written from the perspective of an older woman remembering when she was a 10 year old, which I think kind of explains some of the plot holes and over exaggerated meanness of the adults in her life.
I felt it gave a fairly accurate insight into one person’s struggles coping with a disorder and her ways of living with it-which was another part I noticed people were critical of-the ending. But everyone has their own path to becoming their own person and Icy certainly was able to use her struggles to find her strengths and cope to the best of her (dis)ability.

I really enjoyed this story, set in the 1950s, of a young girl with Tourette's. Of course, at that time not much was known about the syndrome and her grandparents, who were raising her, and her school officials were at at a loss to know what to do.

Narrated by the girl, Icy, she doesn't have a clue what is going on and in spite of all her efforts finds she is increasingly unable to control her actions and speech.

This story reminded me so much of an author I know who had similar experiences growing up in the 1970s. Jonathan Friesen managed to become a school teacher and now writes amazing award-winning books, including "Jerk, Cailifornia." That book was the ALA Schnieder Family award winner for best book of the year with a character with a disability.

Back to Icy Sparks, what I most appreciated about this book is the fact that instead of the usual tragedy of mean-spirited and horrible treatment of someone who is "different," Icy, at least from the adults in her life, is treated with kindness and undying attempts to help her and find a solution for her problems. Through an odd sort of characters, including another obeses "outcast," Icy continues to be loved and educated and even treated in a mental facility. That is so unusual in most of these types of stories, in my experience.

I also feel that this would be a good book for an older teen, if the can handle the language. It's not particually bad and is always used in conjunction with Tourette's, but the themes and hopeful outlook would be positive influences in most anyone's life.

I didn't care for this book. It felt like one of those that you're supposed to like to seem smart or part of a certain crowd-ie oprah's book club. I got this from a thrift store, since normally I don't read the oprah books.

Even with icy's "episodes" it was a lot of nothing that happened with a bunch of wildflower descriptions thrown in. I didn't really care about her as a character.

I was also very annoyed that I read 275+- pages then it went very "God showed me the way" in the last 20-30 pages. I hate preachy books, even more so when it comes out of left field. The ending felt like a cop out. From the revival scene on, I completely disliked the story.

As the mother of a child that has Tourette's Syndrome, I was appalled by the stereotypical portrayal of the main character. Complex vocal and motor tics, such as those described in this book, are the rarest symptoms of this disorder and yet I've heard it called "The Cussing Disease" because it is always shown at the absolute worst end of the spectrum in print and media.
Believe me, if my son starts spewing out cuss words then it isn't because of his Tourette's.

by far one of the worst books i have ever read. i often snag novels from the high school library when i am bored at work and since there isn't much to choose from i picked up icy sparks, mistakenly believing that a book on the oprah book club list must have some merit (after all, books i have loved for a very long time often end up on her list- east of eden, for instance). anyway, i was instantly disappointed and i think it was only horrified disbelief that kept me going. i kept thinking that there HAD to be a point in there somewhere. but no, it is just a disorganized and poorly written tale about a girl who has tourette's and finds jesus. half of the time it doesn't even make sense. i can't stand oprah, but seriously, there's no way that she actually read this and found it worthy to be on her list; she needs to fire some of her book-reading lackeys.

The author did a wonderful depiction of what a family probably went through before Tourette's Syndrome became public knowledge. It was a heartbreaking story to me because the girl seemed to suffer from guilt of her actions, fear of not knowing when she would have a "spell" & bullying from others. Although Tourette's is more accepted today, I believe someone with it would still experience the same shunning. A good book to teach awareness.

I actually cried in the last chapter because I was so sad that the book was ending. I laughed, cried, got angry, sometimes in the same paragraph! Icy Sparks was a character that I couldn’t stop thinking about for weeks!

Lots of different emotions transpired in the pages of this book, I learned about Tourette Syndrome also. Icy Sparks is a special girl.