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Icy Sparks

gwyn hyman rubio

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The eponymous heroine of Gwyn Rubio's Icy Sparks is only 10 years old the first time it happens. The sudden itching, the pressure squeezing her skull, and the "little invisible rubber bands" attached to her eyelids are all symptoms of Tourette's syndrome. At this point, of course, Icy doesn't yet have a name for these unsettling impulses. But whenever they become too much to resist, she runs down to her grandparents' root cellar, and there she gives in, croaking, jerking, cursing, and popping her eyes. Nicknamed the "frog child" by her classmates, Icy soon becomes "a little girl who had to keep all of her compulsions inside." Only a brief confinement at the Bluegrass State Hospital persuades her that there are actually children more "different" than she. As a first novel about growing up poor, orphaned, and prone to fits in a small Appalachian town, Icy Sparks tells a fascinating story. By the time the epilogue rolls around, Icy has prevailed over her disorder and become a "Children silent as stone sing for me. Children who cannot speak create music for me." For readers familiar with this particular brand of coming-of-age novel--affliction fiction?--Icy's triumph should come as no great surprise. That's one problem. Another is Rubio's tendency to lapse into overheated this is a novel in which the characters would sooner yell, pout, whine, moan, or sass a sentence than simply say it. But the real drawback to Icy Sparks is that some of the characters--especially the bad ones--are drawn with very broad strokes indeed, and the moral principles tend to be equally embrace your difference, none of us is alone, and so on. When Icy gets saved at a tent revival, even Jesus takes on the accents of a self-help "You must love yourself!" With insights like these, this is one Southern novel that's more Wally Lamb than Harper Lee. --Mary Park

0 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1998
Places
kentucky, 

This edition

Format
0 pages, Hardcover
Published
March 9, 2001 by Viking Adult
ISBN
9780670030491
ASIN
067003049X
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)
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99 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Tumppiman1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Icy Sparks is Anne of Green Gables with Tourette Syndrome. I loved the character, but wasn't super crazy about the story.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part was kind of painful because it shows her at 10 years old first beginning to manifest Tourette's, and becoming an outcast in her community--it's the 1950's in rural Kentucky and nobody had a clue about Tourette's. I really liked the second part, which induced me to keep reading the book (saying what it's about would be a spoiler), but the last part was a letdown.
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Cronanium
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Ugh. I just saw the book cover, and wanted to hurl. My sister told me to read it. Thats the last recommendation she ever gave... I killed her.
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calsifor
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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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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Roza8o4
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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One of the best pieces of odd story-telling I've read in a long time. Take a little girl in the country who's trying to fit in as best as she can. Add the fact that she has Torette's Syndrome (sp?), and you have fodder for a painfully funny yet touching comedy.

Little Icy finds comfort in the form of an adult, Miss Emily, a grossly obese woman who runs the local seed corn mill where they have tea parties with Miss Emily's cats. What you end up with is unusually unique story-telling style that is hard to find in NYC's "push the plot points" style fiction. It's one of those remarkable novels that you're shocked and pleasantly surprised to find that some big NYC editor had the foresight to discover this.

It's a fabulous journey into life of the non-ordinary.
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StarSpew
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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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.
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spirachuu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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Icy Sparks, a different name. The book begins when Icy was ten. A little girl, born in a tiny hollar, Poplar Hollar near a tiny town, Ginseng, in the Kentucky hills. She is an orphan, her mother died not long after she was born, her father died when she was four. She lived with her grandparents, Matanni and Patanni, who loved her. Matanni was a good cook, sewed clothes and curtains, an excellent housekeeper. Patanni worked hard, liked his drink and smoke some times. Sometimes he said words that Matanni disapproved of. The small family of three is happy. Icy is a spunky, feisty child. Her best friend is Miss Emily Tenner, who owns a food supply store and is extremely obese. Miss Emily has no friends, people make fun of her weight. Icy and Miss Emily love each other because they are different.

Then when Icy turns ten, she begins eye popping and blinking, then violent tics and cursing, words that Matanni has never hears. Many croaks and movements. She hides in the root cellar when she feels this coming on. A school mate, a young boy, catches Icy twitching and jerking behind a barn. He tells all about her actions. Icy doesn't know what is happening to her, actions she can't control and tries to hide.

The school starts, she is now in fourth grade. She starts croaking at school. Kids call her a frog. Her new teacher, Mrs Stilton, takes a dislike to her. She is the type of woman who should never have been a teacher. Icy gets worse and worse, croaking, cursing, jumping up and down. The principal, Mr Wooten, comes in and can't believe what he is seeing and is told. Coming from such a nice family. But Mr Wooten knows this is not Icy. There is something wrong. She is placed in a supply room by herself. Then she gets into a fight with Mr Wooten. She is sent to Bluegrass State Hospital. She sees so many children who are so much worse than she is. But what is wrong with her acting the way she does? Like something is in charge of her actions. She meets a young woman, Maizy Hurley, who works at the hospital. This young woman is saintly, wonderful working with these kids. Another aide, Wilma, is cruel to the kids. Icy gets into a fight with the woman. Icy speaks her mind, never holds back.

Icy goes home, doesn't go back to school. Miss Emily tutors her, she does very well. She is growing up. The book is sectioned into three parts of her life, a little girl living with her grandparents, time in the state hospital, growing up.

I enjoyed reading about Icy going with Matanni and Miss Emily to a revival. Interesting. I didn't care too much for the last chapter, singing at all the churches. She does have a beautiful voice.

Finally her illness has a name, Tourette Syndrome. This is why she jerks, tics and croaks. Icy and Miss Emily are different, which is why they are friends and love and sympathize with each other. She graduated from Berea College, Miss Emily's alma mater.
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Agnusogi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 25,2025
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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!
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