Rating: 
Summary: Enduring and then Prevailing
Review: As an author with my debut novel in its initial release, I genuinely admire Gwyn Hyman Rubio's novel ICY SPARKS. Her title character suffers from Tourette's Syndrome. As a ten-year-old child when she first experiences the syndrome's symptoms, she has no idea what is happening to her. She seeks refuge in her grandparents'cellar and attempts to endure her confusing hardships. In school, she is nicknamed "frog child," and when she is briefly institutionalized she finally realizes other people are even more different from the norm than she is. Set in impoverished Appalachia, ICY SPARKS tells the story of how Icy comes of age and learns to deal with her condition. It is an inspirational story, especially in the epilogue when the one-time sufferer triumphs over her burden becomes a therapist. Excellent book.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I enjoyed reading Icy Sparks and thought she was an adorable character. I am a teacher, so have had few experiences with TS. The only thing that disappointed me about this book was the ending--I thought the author spent too much time with the religion aspect of the story. Overall, I did enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Icy Gal kept those pages turning!
Review: I laughed and cried while watching Icy Sparks grow up in the hills of Kentucky in the 1950's. As an orphan living with her grandparents, she was so real to me and I felt as though I knew this ten year old child. I could not wait to see what would happen to her next. I enjoyed her humorous dialogue and could actually see this child standing in front of me. With each chapter, I was never disappointed. The author's voice impressed me and made this a wonderful journey. Usually I read suspense books so this was different for me. I enjoyed Icy Sparks thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet Book
Review: What a triumph of the human spirit. Icy is such a great character, and her development shows the talent of this writer. She is a child with turrets during a time when little is known about this disease and it is considered a disability. Despite her differences and the adversity she must face, she manages to make a difference in those lives who allow her to come in. She is such a sweet, smart girl, and has so much to give to readers, and to those characters lives she touches. This is a book that will make you smile, and be thankful for what you have.
Rating:
Summary: Very Sweet Read
Review: What a triumph of the human spirit. Icy is such a great character, and her development shows the talent of this writer. She is a child with turrets, in a time little is known about this disease, Despite her differences and the adversity she must face, she manages to make a difference in those lives who allow her to come in. She is such a sweet, smart girl, and has so much to give to readers, and to those characters lives she touches. This is a book that will make you smile, and be thankful for what you have.
Rating: 
Summary: a big let down
Review: i bought this book because it was one of oprahs book club recommendation,although it's a small book it took me over a week to read it, it justed didn't hold my interest, it seemed to drag on and on. i just don't feel like i came away with anything, a sad story it's true but that's about the extent of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully warm story of humanity.
Review: What a delightful adventure reading this book has been! From the cover to the end, it is full of emotion, joy and sadness, hope and disappointment, delight and misery. I never knew an author that could walk through these ranges so perfectly. Icy Sparks is a young girl that must grow up with a strange affliction, Tourettes Syndrome. In grammar school, she suffers bouts of arm and leg jerks, her eyeballs pop out wide, and sometimes she croaks in loud throaty noises. At times she will let loose with the wildest string of cusses. You can imagine what the other children think of her. She lives with her grandparents, who love her dearly, but they too have to admit she needs some help. Tourettes Syndrome is unnamed at that time, so Icy is shipped off to a rehabilitation center, where we are taken from her despair, through her anger and hurt and pain, and finally back to hope again. Though not yet diagnosed and no where near a cure, she returns to live with her grandparents, and her unpredictable "fits" continue. Throughout the story, Icy talks and thinks and acts like the spunky, lovable little girl she is. I grew to love her by the end of the first chapter. Her dear friend Miss Emily is one person you will wish you'd had in your life when you were a child. Icy's grandparents adore her, Icy's mother died shortly after her birth and her Father died also. Icy's coming of age is particularly poignant given her condition. You will feel for her as I did, and you will grow with her as I did. Icy Sparks may have Tourettes Syndrome, but it came with a courage I wish I had! The author keeps the characters down to a few loved ones, and in so doing, makes the story that much closer to your heart. There is Matanni, Icy's wise grandma, and Patanni, her grandpa, a man of few words but a very golden heart, Miss Emily, whose size speaks for the amount of love she is capable of giving. Mr. Wooten, the principal at Ivy's school in not a developed character, but I was fond of him nevertheless. The rest I will let you find for yourself, but this time, Oprah picked it right!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Oprah books
Review: Every teacher should read this book!! A real eye opener to what it was like to be a student with an undiagnosised disability in the 1950s. Finaly an Oprah book with a happy ending!
Rating: 
Summary: Icy Sparks
Review: I admit it; I tend to gravitate towards the Oprah books. I've enjoyed most of them except for Jewel and Icy Sparks. They weren't so bad that I couldn't get through them; they just didn't motivate me to cruise through them in one sitting. I didn't care for the quirky Southern elements in the stories and the characters.White Oleander, on the other hand, was really fascinating. I would read that one again in a heartbeat.
Rating:
Summary: Very good read, however...
Review: I seem to have the same opinion as many other readers, it was a very good book. It succeeded in giving us a glimpse into what a person with this syndrome can go through. The only part of the book that disappointed me was the end. It just seemed out of place with where the story was taking us.
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