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.

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.

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.

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.

Quick read, finished a bit abruptly.

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.

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.

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!

3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars. Thought provoking but somewhat repetitive on the issues addressed. I would think this would be appropriate for a tween. First book I've ever read that character has Tourette syndrome so that was interesting.

When I read the back of the book cover to Adam he gave a big dramatic sigh and declared, "You read the most depressing books in the world." A book about a young girl growing up with undiagnosed Tourettes Syndrome, a story where the heroine feels completely unable to adapt to the world around her, a girl with no mother, raised by her loving but confused grandparents, a child who's only friend is a 400 pound adult, a stint in a mental hospital where the main character struggles and still remains undiagnosed, WHAT ISN'T TO LOVE ADAM? I was so on board with this book, the style, the struggle of the main character, the way the reader begins to realize this book isn't simply talking about the pain of living with Tourettes but actually the difficulties each of us face attempting to fit into society, and then WHAM the ending. Ugg the ending. Maybe YOU will love the ending, but all I can tell you is that I rolled my eyes a LOT in the last 30 pages. Read it, then tell me if you rolled your eyes too.

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.

Sometimes when I come to the end of a good book I feel a little sad because I've enjoyed the story so much and now it's come to an end. That's how I felt when I closed the book on Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. I'd picked up the book because it was one of Oprah's selections and the book jacket sounded interesting--a little girl with a troubling affliction grows up in 1950s Kentucky. As one growing up with deaf parents, I felt very different from the others as a child. I would be able to relate to this character.

Icy Sparks is going to be one of those memorable characters for me, like Scout Finch and Francie Nolan. Orphaned at a very young age, spunky Icy is raised by her loving grandparents. When she is about 10, she begins to struggle with a frightening condition--she'll get an urge to tic, pop her eyes, or croak. She tries really hard to hide what is happening to her but it all comes out in the presence of one very cruel teacher.

Icy spends time in a mental institution which seems brutally cruel but, after all, this is the 1950s when people didn't understand about these kinds of things. They didn't accept people's differences as easily as they do today.

Luckily, Icy is surrounded by enough love from her grandparents, her friend Miss Emily, her principal Mr. Wootten and the hospital aide Maizy that she isn't lost forever. She's got a gift that helps her deal with what's happening to her--a lovely singing voice.

I thought this book was fantastic and definitely recommend it as an excellent read!