Rating: 
Summary: good until the end.
Review: In this sad, funny & transcendent tale of a young adopted girl with the strange physical expressions of Tourettes Syndrome, grows up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950's.At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby & raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences. Try as she might, her "secrets" ' verbal croaks, groans, & physical spasms ' keep afflicting her. Only as an adult will she find out she has Tourette's Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, but for years her behavior is the source of mystery, confusion, & deep humiliation.
The author made me feel as though I was right beside Icy as she tells her own story. I can only begin to understand how the tormenting must have hurt not to mention just not knowing what is wrong with her. In the 1950s Tourettes Syndrome was not a known disorder. The ignorance & unacceptance of everyone from the children to the teachers was unbelievable. Even now people are not that accepting of "differences." I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story until its end. Where are the details on how Icy was diagnosed? Suddenly she's in college & her secret is now known. So many wonderful details in the beginning & middle...so flat at the end. I was let down. I wanted more!
Rating: 
Summary: Icy Sparks- Miss Understood
Review: Before reading this book, I was not quite sure of what the book would entail. I knew it was about a girl with Tourette's syndrome and how clever with a title "Icy Sparks" or I-see-sparks. I did research the syndrome to get a brief overview of what I was reading, but I should not have bothered because Gwyn Rubio, author, covered the more important parts of the disorder as it was diagnosed with Icy. I could not help to think as an upcoming teacher how I would have reacted with a student undiagnosed with this syndrome. I thought the book was very insightful as to why children sometimes act the way they do, considering the fact that they might be undiagnosed with learning disorders and what nots. Imagine a student twitching and blurting out obsenties and though your heart may go out to her as being misunderstood, think of it from a teacher's perspective. She would have been labeled a behavior problem, such as she was. Rubio did a wonderful job going through the obstacles of being labeled different and not quite sure what is different about you, even delving into the idea of how children deal with people that might have disorders. Although the ending was not what I expected, this story is wonderful in the fact that you get first-hand information about a disorder, much better than in a reference book, and not only that, but from the mouth of one who had it, a little girl from the Hills of Kentucky, and did not even know.
Rating:
Summary: Not so great!
Review: I would have expected a bit more, kind of dragged through the middle. I lost interest towards the end. Wouldn't recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was not a page turner.
Review: I bought this book in an attempt to read more. And, generally I
enjoyed the books from Oprah's book club (the bluest eye, black and blue, she comes undone, and now icy sparks). However, this book was very slow paced and bored me at times. I thought that it was way too sentimental and I don't believe I learned anything about Tourette's Syndrome that didn't already know. I especially despised the over religious ending and wondered where it came from and why did it have to continue so long. It took me a couple of weeks to finish this book and I wished I had saved my money and borrowed it from the public library. However, I did enjoy Icy's interaction with Peavy Lawson. And there were some funny aspects concerning Mrs. Stilton and Wilma the evil nurse aide. I was thankful that the book was only 300 pages long so that is another positive for Icy Sparks. Lastly, borrow this book DON'T buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Flat, Bland and Forgettable
Review: I was very excited about reading this book as I was intrigued about how the author would protray a Tourette's syndrome sufferer. After 300 pages of bland dialogue and transparent characters, I do not know any more about the disease than I did before. Rubio's descriptions on Icy's tics are very thin and mainly consist in her using the phares, "Croak" repeatedly. She does not make us feel the true impact of the condition or allow is to understand what it is like to be a sufferer.
All the characters in this book are such predictable sterotypes--the kind grandparents, the sympathetic nurse, the mean school children. Even the other patients in the hospital have been seen before in many different guises.
Having recently moved from the South, I was looking forward to reading a novel set in rural Kentuky, but this portrays so little of the personality of the region that it could be set anywhere. All in all, a very disappointing read and I wish I had saved my time and my money.
Rating:
Summary: Never Lives Up To Its Potential
Review: This book has a unique premise: a 10 year old girl living in 1950's Kentucky, afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome. The possibilities for exploration into this strange and lonely world are endless, but are never even touched. It's one thing to describe the onset of the strange syndrome, but it's a whole other thing to really dive into the healing waters. Ms. Rubio merely sticks her big toe into the shallow end. The first disappointment with the novel is the neglect of the supporting characters. These characters grab the attention of the reader rather effortlessly, but are so broadly drawn that they seem almost insignificant by the end of the novel. We want to know what happens to Miss Emily, Peavy and Maizie, but never get that opportunity. The second disappointment is the so-called climax and the rapid wrap-up of the novel. The story is underdeveloped and the plot is full of holes. The reader is shortchanged by the unimaginative, rather bland and drawn out denouement. The third and most significant disappointment is the epilogue, which crams years of therapy and enlightened discovery into a mere 2 pages. There are many, many questions which are touched upon but never really answered. We want to know HOW Icy is diagnosed; WHY she seeks out therapy after so many years; WHAT the steps were in the healing process. The reader is simply left hanging. I give this book 2 stars for 2 reasons: the complexity of Icy and the utter compassion we have for this character, and the explicit and profound way that Rubio describes the afflictions of Tourette's. Unfortunately, the book never lives up to the potential that it should
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Lacking In "Real" Appalachia
Review: This story was very touching and warm. The writer does an excellent job of putting us in poor Icy's seat in the classroom and on our knees beside her in the cellar. However, I was disappointed in her inability to capture the real heart and language of rural Appalachia. The writer puts words in the mouths of these folk that could only come from an outsider. I realize that the dialect would be incredibly difficult to write (or read for that matter). Yet, the writing drifts in and out of the dialect in such a distracting way that it merits mention. The words, stories, expressions and characters of the natives of the rural Kentucky Appalachian Mountains are remarkably colorful and deserve equal attention as whatever story they are being used to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book In A Long Time
Review: This book touched my thoughts and heart in a way no book has done in a long time. If you love to read about trials and triumps in a person's life, you will love Icy Sparks.
It begins with a little girl, only 10 years old, who lives with her grandparents on their farm. Her parents have died leaving her with her grandparents.The farm is located in the mountains very isolated from other people. Icy suffers from(what we know now as)Tourette Syndrome. Because of her strange actions, she is eventually taken out of school and sent away to a state hospital. I believe Icy grew by the experiences she had while hospitalized. She also made friends she would not have had that helped her as she grew to be a woman.
The story is sad when Icy is treated in cruel ways and mean things are said about her. But, I wanted to stand and cheer when she gained victory over the obstacles placed before her. She is a true inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: Ice Sparks
Review: This book began with great promise but didn't go anywhere interesting. The character seemed interesting but there was no development of the main character in a way that made me care about what happened to her one way or the other.
Rating:
Summary: She turned out to be nice
Review: I actually bought this book on the strength and reputation of being recommended in Oprah's book club. It is an interesting story, but somehow it is not written quite tightly. The main character Icy starts out as an uncontrollable kid, with her tantrums and all. But then she ends up being a nice girl in the end, based on her own epilogue of sorts. The story was narrated by Icy herself. Until now I am quite puzzled how this came to be. Admittedly, this is actually a nice story though.
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