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May 23, 2011

Jen rated it:

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 wo More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2007

Sammy rated it:

Good read. For the most part, this book was a very enthralling and entertaining read. The story itself and the writing both very fine. It's not a book, though, that's going to go down in history as one of my favorites, despite the fact I really did enjoy it.

The main problem I had with the book was the characters themselves. They were likeable enough, but with the exceptional of Icy, most everyone she encountered seemed 2Demensional at most, they weren't flushed out enough for my tast More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jeff-is rated it:

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.

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2007

Irishcoda rated it:

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 abl More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Anna rated it:

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?????

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2007

Jessica rated it:

i thought this book would be interesting: a little girl growing up with Tourette's in 1950s Kentucky. i was so wrong. this book does a horrible job of getting inside a child's mind and does little to show us how her doctors at the institution came to understand enough about it to finally send her home. then it gets all Jesus-freak at the end. i have no idea why this is in Oprah's book club. no sir, i didn't like it.

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2008

Robin rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 20, 2009

Aimee rated it:

i didn't care for this book. it felt like one of those that you're supposed to like to seem smart of 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 sho More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Maria rated it:

Ordinarily, I hate all literature, fiction, or story-telling about Appalachia. HATE. And I mean that as forcefully as the all caps implies. Silas House? So twee and building stereotypes that some of us would rather not have to fight against on a daily basis. Jesse Stuart? Please spare me.

But this book, while set in eastern Kentucky, isn't really about Appalachia. It's about a girl who happens to grow up in an isolated community, surrounded by mountains. But she's a special girl More...

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Apr 24, 2010

Ashley rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Sarah Beth rated it:

Icy Sparks tells the story of a young girl growing up in rural Kentucky and suffering from undiagnosed Tourette's syndrome. Icy is rejected by her peers and hospitalized because of her twitches and uncontrollable outbursts. Icy has few friends other than her grandparents and Miss Emily, a heavily obese woman who is also ostracized by the community.

While the plot of this novel was classic Oprah's Book Club, I was disappointed by the quality of the narrative. I found the dialogue stil More...

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Dec 24, 2009

Katy rated it:

This book was interesting, yet still somehow disappointing. I found it when I was rummaging around in a book sale at the Akron Library. I saw that it was an Oprah's Book Club book, and saw the price (fifty cents!) and immediately grabbed it. Not only that, but the synopsis was intruiging. Obviously you know as soon as you read the back that Icy suffers from Tourette Sydrome, but I couldn't wait to hear the details of the disorder, how she dealt with it, the doctors she saw, and finally, her diag More...

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Jan 17, 2012

Yzobelle rated it:

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.) More...

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Sep 11, 2011

Kendra rated it:

This is one of those books when I'm not quite sure what I thought. I read the entire book and at times, I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. BUT, I was also confused and disappointed several times and I wanted the story told differently. I wanted to know the views of other characters and why things were happening. I wanted to have a better understanding of why so that I could truly feel for these characters.

As it was, I didn't ever really connect with the characters so I didn't More...

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Jul 12, 2010

ehnonymus rated it:

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 More...

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Jul 01, 2009

Brooke rated it:

I saw this on the shelf at the bookstore and something about it caught my attention. catchy cover, oprah's book club, and the summary on the back interested me... it being about a little girl growing up in a small town in the 50's, manifesting tourettes before they really knew what it was. buuuuuuut sorry, can't finish it. i hate when this happens. i feel like i've wasted precious book-reading time. oh well... got through a hundred pages hoping for it to get better, but never did. The characters More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 01, 2007

Tiffany rated it:

Really good depiction of what I imagine Tourettes is like. Not a great book. I don't really care about the characters or look forward to listening to it. (I'm listening to it on CD). (Edit after it was over: Hated it!!!!! I didn't care about the characters, the story went no where, and it was so boring!!!! BLAH and BLAH.)

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 05, 2011

Angela rated it:

I liked this book because of its intensity of emotion. Every moment I followed with Icy was a moment that revealed true personal struggle. I feel that Icy is a character that is extremely likable in an unfortunate body. Her intense observations of other people are interesting. I felt the story did move too fast in the end and didn't give enough attention to the things I needed to know more about as a reader curious to understand her plight. For instance, I didn't really get a sense that she More...

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Oct 25, 2009

Margaret rated it:

Icy is a little girl growing up in Appalachia, in the 1950's. She begins to have "the fits" and is so embarrassed that when she feels them coming on she goes to the basement and croaks and twitches - when they happen at school the kids call her frog eyes. The story follows Icy through young adult hood. Her symptoms are misunderstood and she is cruelly treated. In the end it is a book simply about ignorance, fear and tolerance. It is also about a wonderful friendship that Icy forms w More...

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Dec 14, 2008

Natalie rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

Carrie rated it:

I had a hard time getting into the story the first 20-30 pages, but then it got me. I had to keep reading to see how everything was going to unfold and come together. It was interesting to hear Icy tell about her experiences and what would go through her mind when the tics and croaks would come. I felt so bad for her. I was shocked by how mean some people were in the story, but also impressed with the kindness of others she met as well. My favorite part of the story was her grandparents, an More...

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Jun 09, 2010

Emily rated it:

This was a very well written book about a beautiful 10 year old girl growing up in rural Kentucky. While in the 4th grade the tics, croaks and abusive language come upon Icy in crowded areas making her the victim of teasing and other abuse. She is put in a psychiatric facility with other misfits. There she is treated with some respect by the Doctors and one especially one aide. It is a long time before Icy can return to her grandparents home in Kentucky. Icy does not learn that she has been diag More...

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Feb 24, 2009

Andrea rated it:

I didn't think that I would like this book as much as I did. Especially being an Oprah pick at one point, but if you're an educator, interested in children who are different or differently abled. Or if you just like a good ol' Southern novel (like me), you should read this.

Icy Sparks is growing up in rural Kentucky with her grandparents during the 50s and 60s with undiagnosed Tourette's Syndrome. We follow her into the class room where she is painfully spirited and shunned, to the More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Shauna rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Mar 01, 2011

Marni rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 23, 2010

Jamie rated it:

Sigh...or should I say what the ****! Ok Mrs. Rubio, just because you have Epilepsy does NOT make you an expert on Tourette's Syndrome. Good grief. While the book was a neat idea, told by a 10 year old girl with Tourette's growing up in rural Kentucky in the 1950s, it was terrible. The characters were way too generalized. Someone doesn't have to be either really evil or really good. Most people have parts of both. Needless to say, the book wasn't very accurate, and I was very disappointed. It ha More...

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Jan 06, 2012

Jenn rated it:

Icy is an orphan in the 1950s from rural Appalachia living with un-diagnosed Tourette Syndrome. I picked up this book because all of these elements are something I usually enjoy in my mindless reading...Strong independent heroine? Yes! Overcoming the odds? Yes! Exploration of rural farm life? Yes! Empathic descriptors of mental illness? Yes!

Well, I assumed it would have those things.

Instead, while I found the treatment of Tourette Syndrome to be sympathetic I did not find More...

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Sep 07, 2011

Lorraine rated it:

This was our Book club selection for the month, so I read it. Glad I did. I don't usually read "Oprah" selections because I found so many of them to be downers. However, I'm glad I read this book. It's strength lies in its clear description of what it is like to have Tourette's Syndrome. It is also entertaining (humor is very good)and engaging.

The main character is Icy Sparks who discovers at age 10 that she is different. She is growing up in the late 50s, early 60s, raise More...

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Jul 17, 2008

Debbie rated it:

Hill kid in 50s Kentucky with Tourette's syndrome. Gotta figure this will have some lessons in it somewhere! Is that a twitch or just a southern church service?? :-)

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2008

Suzanne rated 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.

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

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