Rating: 
Summary: Senseless babble
Review: A completely redundant portrayal of a very uninteresting girl. I kept waiting for it to get "good" and it just never happens. The story goes in circles. Don't let all of the good reviews on the cover fool you, this book is a flop. You are wrong Oprah.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for Teenagers!
Review: Icy Sparks was great. I am a 14 year old girl who likes to read "adult" books because "teenage" book are not interesting. Icy Sparks taught me that it doesn't matter what I look like or what I do. A must for teenage girls!
Rating: 
Summary: Another Good Pick from Oprah
Review: I always find the novels that Oprah picks much more diverse than my average reading choices. This was yet, another good read and pick from Oprah. I enjoyed the novel throughly, however, the ending was lacking. All throughout the book it was strong- telling the story of Icy and then at the final climax you get a two-page epilogue of where she is now- wrapping it up in a pretty package. It was good till the end, and then strongly disappointing!
Rating:
Summary: Icy Sparks - A Great Book
Review: As a special education teacher, I really enjoyed this book and felt like I could relate to Icy Sparks. I see children everyday suffering socially, emotionally, and academically because of actions that they cannot control. This book was written very well and very accurately. I felt like I was right there with Icy, enduring her suffering with her, and feeling her pain and sorrow when she was sent off to be cured of her problem.This book was both insightful and educational. I highly recommend this book to anyone who faces problems and thinks that family bonds and love cannot help them be overcome.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed the first half, not the last.
Review: I chose this book based on Oprah's recommendation, and I am wondering if she read the entire book. I found the first half of this book to be completely engaging. Rubio does a wonderful job creating the rural setting and developing her characters. Icy's torment and the reactions by the various kind and not so kind people in her life are realistic and beautifully expressed by Rubio. Beginning with the Christmas pageant at the state hospital and continuing until the last page, however, the story became unbearably schmaltzy and saccharine. I felt as if a lesser author had taken over, turning the book into an icky sweet Hallmark card. Rubio wraps everything up in "pretty little bows" in the most insipid way. When Oprah had her panel of readers on to review the book, she mentioned that this was the only book she had ever recommended that received no negative comments. I find that hard to believe.
Rating: 
Summary: Icy Gal
Review: My son has Tourette Syndrome, so this book caught my eye for that reason. Much to my delight, the book was wonderfully well written and told a moving and enlightening story. Gwyn Hyman Rubio has written us all a gift and I for one cannot wait for her next novel. Gwyn, I loved Icy and I understand exactly what you were trying to say. I got it! Thanks, Val
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Summary: Living Icy's Life
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Icy understands what happens when one can no longer take for granted the simple functioning of one's nervous system. I highly recommend this book, and really enjoyed the way Icy's story (and how she got her name!) was told.
Rating:
Summary: Nauseating drivel
Review: If you like unrealistic characters and phony dialog, replete with cloying sentimentality and blatant moralizing, and if you like your books preachy, patronizing, and sappy enough to gag a six-year-old, then buy this book. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: The Voices of the South Come in Many Different Forms
Review: Icy Sparks is the story of a poor country girl living in the "Hollars" of Kentucky. It is narrated by Icy as a grown up and weaves the tale of what it is like to be different, to be afraid to go out of the house when you have no control over what your body does. Icy thinks that she is different because her mamma ate too many green apples and made her croak like a frog. From the first description of her "eye-popping croaking" fits, I knew she had Tourette's Syndrome. But because it was the fifties and Kentucky she really had no options for treatment except a breif stay at a mental insitution. Her redemption came at a Pentecostal revival mission and the discovery of her "true voice;" her singing voice that over powered the Tourette's. This book could have ended in tragedy, but Ms. Rubio penned a different fate for Icy, she gave Icy a way out and sent her to college and a life outside the hollars and a way to live with the Tourette's Syndrom...a saving grace for a tortured soul. Nicely Done.
Rating: 
Summary: I was rather disappointed ....
Review: This book definitely left me wanting ... wanting a better plot and certainly a more satisfying ending. I liked the author's 'style' but the this book was not worth the [money]..paperbacks are far to [pricey] these days!
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