I love any book that reminds me of my girl Frances Boggs, and this one definitely did. From the Appalachian setting to the protagonist’s schoolyard outbursts, this one was very much in my wheelhouse. I loved Icy’s sarcastic, wise beyond her years tone; and her journey to self love was unique yet heartwarming.

This one gave me Demon Copperhead vibes for its nuanced hilarity about southern culture. And the language … my god, the language. So good. I really liked this story and felt attached to many of the characters for their relentless love for the main character. I wished Icy earned redemption before she got it — that part made this a hard read — but it was worth it. 4.5 stars.

Wow I LOVED this book! I usually am in the zone when reading, but this was next level entrancement. Ok...but WTF was up with the ending? Was this book in the hands of a Christian publishing company or something? It was left a bad taste in my mouth. The rest of the book was amazing though and I highly recommend!

Wonderful read! I picked this book up from my local library for $0.25 after briefly scanning the back cover. I thought that it would be interesting to read because my son was diagnosed with transient tic disorder (similar to Tourrettes) when he was about 4. I know that this book is fiction, but as I was reading about Icy Sparks (the main character) and how she described what she felt prior to her "fits" and extreme anger, I wondered whether or not my son felt the same way before each tic episode.
Icy is a smart, feisty girl and a fantastic character. She's a young girl being raised by her grandparents in a small Appalachian mountain town in the 50's. At the time, no one truly understood her disorder and she was taken out of school and placed in a facility for a period of time. Even after she was released and returned home, she still remained isolated, with only her grandparents and Ms. Emily (an obese older woman) who was also shunned by the people in town. The author tries to show that prejudice is found everywhere, even in a small mountain "hick" town. As Icy grows and matures into a teenager, and then a young woman, she begins to realize that being different doesn't matter because God has created everyone in His image; she also discovers that she is able to sing beautifully. The ending is a positive one, where Icy goes off to college, becomes a therapist and uses her singing talents to help other children.
It's a wonderful book - you cry with Icy, get angry with her and for her and just want to reach into the book and give her a big hug. My son, who's 22 now, also got a great big hug! Just a small note....I truly believe that books come to you when you need them - I received an answer to prayers and a message from the Lord! :) I just love when that happens!

It was good, but then it got super religious at the end. Which is fine. Just not my wheelhouse. I enjoyed the rest of the book, though.

i read this in high school and used it as part of my research for a paper on tourette's. "but anna," you may be thinking, "this book has a publication date of 2001, and you are 26 years old. that math doesn't compute."

yeah, well, books exist before oprah gets her hands on them. TAKE THAT, OPRAH! WHO SCOOPED YOU NOW, HUH??!?!? you think you're SOOOOOO cool with your show and your book club and your free iPods? well GUESS WHO READ THIS BOOK before you?????

anyway, i remember liking it.

Once you read this book, you will never forget it. Whenever I see a person reading this, I tell them how good & wonderful it is. It is so,so good.

This was a book club selection and I had the hardest time reading this book. It literally took me WEEKS to read. Ugh.
I found the author annoying and the character she created. For instance, I understand that the girl had tourettes but the way she would describe it bothered me. How does one pop out their eyes? Did she actually say the word croak or did she make a sound like a frog?
There are too many things I did not care for in this book or that I felt the author did a good job writing on and I feel like I just wasted too many weeks on this book.

This was my Oprah Book Club summer read and my Vaca read this year. And it was everything I hoped it would be.

I feel as though I don't know what original insight I can offer, given that this novel has over one thousand written reviews. I can tell you that it's an honest, human story with an uplifting message of perseverance, compassion, and the transformative power of love at its core.

The cast of this story is endearingly warm. Icy herself captured my heart immediately and I felt that her innate goodness contributed to the sympathy I felt for her throughout her struggle. This is not a character that makes the story difficult to read due to their dysfunction or unlikeability; this is someone you want to root for. Her friendships, her ties to her family, and her courage in getting involved in the broken lives she witnesses make this an inspiring, pick-you-u-when-you're-feeling-down read.

Oprah did right by this one.

I have to agree with the negative reviews of this book and am surprised that it is endorsed by Oprah's Book Club. The book was quite repetitive, focusing on the main character, Icy's, isolation and the harsh treatment towards her by others. I only continued reading the book hoping that Icy's diagnosis of Tourettes Syndrome would be given to her but one wasn't revealed - except for a mention in the epilogue. Also, the last 3 chapters filled with religious content was confusing and for these reasons I would not recommend this book on GoodReads.

Never in my life have I wanted to burn a book, that is until I finished Icy Sparks. Aside from the bullshit Christian propaganda at the end of the novel, the sentences were filled with awkward actions and adjectives. There were actual moments I was reading the book, had to reread the passage and then shake my head like…what? For example:

p. 143 “Then I jumped up really high, stretched out my legs into an airborne spit, and descended, straight legged, with a thud- my feet planted squarely on the floor.”

p. 212 “Icy Child! She repeated as I corkscrewed and uncoiled my body again and again…”

p. 281 “Zooming straight up, twisting around in the air, he landed in a split, then shot upright again.” (Mind you, this was the pastor who was wearing a literal pinstripe suit?)

Also, can we talk about that weird scene with Maizy? There was a lesson on empathy on p. 162-163 in which she describes to Icy how to understand the patients in the ward, she would attempt to mimic their literal actions to understand their pain. For God’s sake Rose had cerebral palsy with contorted limbs and one kid ate lead. Being empathetic does not entail going to dangerous lengths to understand how one may be feeling. The whole relationship between an adult employee of a mental institute for children and a ten-year-old child was completely unbelievable. Icy was the epitome of good behavior and maturity, yet throughout the entire book, the reader must suffer through her bad mouthing and chastisement of nearly everyone that she knew. Even her closest friend, one of the only people that Icy was ever able to seek solace in, Miss Emily was only described in grotesque words. The word “fat”, “rolls”, “dough”, “whale” were thrown around carelessly. Of course, this was only good when Icy thought about it because when Patanni said the same thing, she would get defensive and tell him that it was not nice. This scene did not conclude the words in her head. For a good Christian novel, this sure included a lot of hatred. Then there was an awkward cat sex scene in which Icy (only 13 years old) states that she wants to be touched the same way by her boyfriend, she previously stated, “No ma’am! I don’t want some ole boy sticking his wiggly up my vagina”. (p. 229) (For some reason she reads so many knowledgeable books and can’t say the word penis).

I guess one of the only good things about the novel was the Walt Whitman reference. Yes, he did believe in God, however he did believe in all religions equally and did not discriminate, which essentially is what Icy stated she herself was going to do towards the end of the novel. Rubio tried to make Icy somewhat of a feminist, literary heroin, a survivor of Tourette’s Syndrome, however, unfortunately, it was a flop and Icy’s remnants are merely a forgettable speck in the wind. Perhaps if Rubio had attempted to focus more on educating the reader about the disorder and lead us into a realistic insight of Appalachia, would the book have been a worthy read.

Icy can be a tough to root for at times but you can't help soften to her.