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by Gwyn Hyman Rubio

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  • ISBN: 0142000205
  • Category: Fiction
  • Author: Gwyn Hyman Rubio
  • Subcategory: United States
  • Other formats: mbr txt mobi lrf
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Penguin Books (March 2001)
  • Pages: 336 pages
  • FB2 size: 1322 kb
  • EPUB size: 1116 kb
  • Rating: 4.4
  • Votes: 904
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A New York Times Notable Book and the March 2001 selection of Oprah's Book Club® !. .

A New York Times Notable Book and the March 2001 selection of Oprah's Book Club® ! Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby but raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences

Gwyn Hyman Rubio is a fiction writer whose short stories have been anthologized and published in literary magazines around the . She lives in Berea, Kentucky.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio is a fiction writer whose short stories have been anthologized and published in literary magazines around the country. She is a winner of the Cecil Hackney Award as well as a recent recipient of grants from the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio's beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird . Featured in Oprah's Book Club 2001. Published 11/04/2010.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio's beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. Please accept the Oprah.

Rural Kentucky in the 1950s is not an easy place to grow up, and it's especially hard for 10-year-old Icy Sparks, an orphan suffering from undiagnosed Tourette Syndrome, who lives with her grandparents. Icy's adolescence is marred by the humiliation of her illness. Its all-too-visible signs are the source of endless mystery and hilarity as everyone around her offers an opinion about what's troubling the girl. Eventually, Icy finds solace in the company of Miss Emily, an obese woman who knows what it's like to be an outcast in this tight-knit community.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree

Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s.

An Oprah's Book Club selection. Set in Appalachia during the late 1950s, this acclaimed first novel chronicles a young girl's heartbreaking battle with Tourette's syndrome. Ten-year-old Icy Sparks already has one strike against her: She's an orphan.

Icy Sparks, by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. A fresh, original, and completely redeeming novel about learning to overcome others’ ignorance and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique. The following titles expose the hardships of foreign worlds (real or imagined) while giving voice to the people who often go unheard. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead.

Born in Macon, Georgia, to Mac Hyman and Gwendolyn Holt Hyman. Gwyn grew up in south Georgia in the small town of Cordele, not far from Plains

Born in Macon, Georgia, to Mac Hyman and Gwendolyn Holt Hyman. Gwyn grew up in south Georgia in the small town of Cordele, not far from Plains. Her father was Mac Hyman who also wrote the bestseller No Time for Sergeants. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper.

A New York Times Notable Book and the March 2001 selection of Oprah's Book Club® !

Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby but raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences. Try as she might, her "secrets"—verbal croaks, groans, and physical spasms—keep afflicting her. As an adult, she will find out she has Tourette’s Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, but for years her behavior is the source of mystery, confusion, and deep humiliation.

Narrated by a grown up Icy, the book chronicles a difficult, but ultimately hilarious and heartwarming journey, from her first spasms to her self-acceptance as a young woman. Curious about life beyond the hills, talented, and energetic, Icy learns to cut through all barriers—physical, mental, and spiritual—in order to find community and acceptance.

Along her journey, Icy faces the jeers of her classmates as well as the malevolence of her often-ignorant teachers—including Mrs. Stilton, one of the most evil fourth grade teachers ever created by a writer. Called willful by her teachers and "Frog Child" by her schoolmates, she is exiled from the schoolroom and sent to a children’s asylum where it is hoped that the roots of her mysterious behavior can be discovered. Here Icy learns about difference—her own and those who are even more scarred than she. Yet, it isn’t until Icy returns home that she really begins to flower, especially through her friendship with the eccentric and obese Miss Emily, who knows first-hand how it feels to be an outcast in this tightly knit Appalachian community. Under Miss Emily’s tutelage, Icy learns about life’s struggles and rewards, survives her first comical and heartbreaking misadventure with romance, discovers the healing power of her voice when she sings, and ultimately—takes her first steps back into the world.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s Icy Sparks is a fresh, original, and completely redeeming novel about learning to overcome others’ ignorance and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique.


Reviews about Icy Sparks (Oprah's Book Club) (7):
Dibei
My son has Tourette's Syndrome so I was especially excited to read this. I know every case is different but the way it presented itself was so very different than my sons experience. I also had a hard time relating to Icy in any way. I found myself wishing the book would end so I could read something else-never a good sign, but I didn't give up; I did finish it.
Gunos
Did not enjoy this book at all. The characters were unlikeable, unrealistic, and no one who was 'bad' ever got what was coming to them. This book had the potential to really shed light on Tourette's syndrome, but instead, it took unlikeable characters and created more disdain for their maladies. Also, there was so much extra plot that was unnecessary and made it harder to read than it should have been.
Venemarr
I took months to finish this book and only did so to quiet that Tourette-like OCD that often tyrannically rules my brain. I found it repetitive, meandering, overly pandering, insulting to obese women, and sometimes utterly boring. BUT .. IT GETS WORSE... I listened to it on the audio book, and that was even worse. The reader chose to try to present the book as a sort of one woman play, and it didn't go well. The regional accents were not accurate. The voices were often annoying, and the worst thing ever was the "singing" toward the end of the book. I found myself saying out loud, "please don't sing!" more than once. The narrator's singing voice was not unpleasant, but she was just making up her own melodies for old and well respected hymns that she could easily have learned. If you're going to sing, at least learn the correct melody, please! So, in short, I would never recommend this book to anyone and cannot understand why it won awards. Tourette's Syndrome sufferers deserve better. Apologies to those who loved it. Not my cup of tea.
OCARO
Icy Sparks is an interesting book. One of its primary assets is the beautiful descriptive prose used throughout the book. Also, it gives a vivid portrayal of the disorder which plagued Icy. However, the story really bogged down in the middle with a drawn out hospital stay, homeschooling, and lags in action. I thought surely we would come to the discovery of the disorder and hope for the future, but it didn't come until the epilogue and was strictly a report, disappointing.
Heraly
I really enjoyed the characters in this book especially Icy. To see this girl grow into a woman and travel along her road to acceptance. The book takes place in n the mountainous areas of coal country where sophistication isn't important but the globe that Icy has from family and friends does sustain her. It does start ow but then is a page turner.
Elastic Skunk
This is one of those books once you read ten pages of the book you will not be able to put it down. I read this book in two days because I could not put it down except to sleep. This book is very sad; however, it is a great book and this is in my list of top ten books. I felt very close to the characters in the book and the emotions they were going through. The book is realistic in terms of real life scenarios. Great book and would recommend to anyone looking for a great book to read. This book will touch your heart for sure. Great book
Samuhn
I really wanted to like this book, but there really wasn't much going on with it. I finished it hoping that there would be some kind of story that I was just missing that would come out in the end, but there wasn't.
I have never read a book that deals with Tourette's so I don't know if the author did a good job or not. She wrote characters that are fairly well-developed but who don't seems to have a lot of depth and dimension. I can't say that I liked this book. About half way through it became repetitive and seemed to lose its forward movement. As a book that opens one's experience to Tourette's, it probably succeeds, but it doesn't create a lot of sympathy for the heroine who suffers from this syndrome.

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