Icy Sparks

This is a book for the contemplative-not for the standard airhead

This book is for those who read to get the message, even if it is oblique. It is not a book for standard airhead entertainment. There are a lot of themes that run though this book. You don't necessarily need to understand those with different disabilities or disorders because the themes eventually point to the crux of the message, for which is that even with all of the 'differences' in people--we are all still very much alike in our humanity.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT....

I loved this book!!! As a high school student it is fun to get away from the traditional books such as Huckleberry Finn. Don't get me wrong, that book wasn't horrible, but i felt it lacked emotion. I really felt that I understood what Icy was going through. The horrifying details of her symptoms and her surroundings will leave just about any reader swept off their feet. Read this book!!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Thought provoking and heart warming...

Definitly the best book I've ever read, and I've read many! This book is bound to be future literature in English classes everywhere! It warms your heart and soothes the soul! Get this book... you will not put it down...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What a wonderful book

As an avid reader, I must say that this book is original and extremly well written. One of the best books that has come out in years. What a story. I highly recommend this book to anyone. Most of us are 'different' which by nature calls for isolation and endurance of deep humiliation and hardship. When one learns of the angels that are placed in our lives to help us (Miss Emily) we really see that although most of the world is basically evil and terrible. Love really does not occur without pain. But in truth the only love is self-love. Once of the best coming of age stories in literature, end of story.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A wonderfully warm story of humanity.

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!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An awesome story

I first this book some where around age 15-16 and i dont understand y ppl dont believe that a person can b bullied and ostracized that severly by both peers and adults well im hear to say from my own personal exp that it can happen! Throughout elementary school i was teased and picked on a lot by my peers and i didnt think it could get any worse until i reached sixth grade. I was sadly mistaken and any dreams of an easier time were shattered after the first week in school when i came to the conclusion that my sixth grade teacher hated me!!! Most ppl would see it as a child stretching it a bit much and go there's no way a teacher can hate you. Well mine did and i know this for a fact. Besides the little incidents throughout the year the worst thing she did 2 me was trying to keep me from going on our school's graduation because of my illness that kept me out of school a lot. But i had earned that trip i was the only child of my grade w/ a high b averge who spent about a quarter of the school year in the hospital. So as i was saying it is possible for things like what Icy Sparks went through to happen and for all of you who dont believe it, you need to open your eyes and remember there's a larger world out there than the place you live and not everyone grows up witj kind and adoring ppl around them comstantly

Heartwarming%0A

Heartwarming+and+beautifu%21++We+could+all+learn+from+icy+sparks%21%0A

great novel

loved this book!

Good Read

I couldt't put this down! Loved it

You will root for Icy!!!

Girl has turrets Syndrome before anyone knows what that is, she is made fun of and can not figure out how to stop herself from uncontrollable jerks and twitches. She just wants to be normal. I wanted her to know that she had an uncontrollable disease, poor girl.

Great name, great book

Very interesting story of a handicapped girl coming of age in rural Kentucky in the 50's. Unusual handicap which the author was able to describe with such brilliance and respect. This is one you must read, and put on your permanent library. Lighthearted, sweet, your feelings are with the characters as you explore their world.

I loved it!

This was a book I didn't want to put down. It also touched my heart. This little girl couldn't control her illness and, because the setting was so long ago, society didn't know much about it. Other children made fun of her, and adults punished her. Yet, she looked at life positively. We can all learn a lesson from Icy Sparks.

Educational and entertaining!

I know something about Tourettes and this story explains some of the tics that a child might have in a way that doesn't make fun or sensationalize it. The way her family and friends deal with it, the way strangers deal with it and most importantly the way Icy deals with it can be comforting to anyone who has Tourettes or has someone in their lives who is living with it. Icy has spunk and the love of her family and that helps her through her difficult childhood journey. Thank goodness today we know more about it and are able to give children with Tourettes the help and skills they need to lead a more normal life than Icy was able to have.
I highly recommend this book and going to www.tsa-usa.org with any questions you might have about Tourette Syndrome!

A reviewer

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was very entertaining for being in the olden days. Very informational on what was wrong with Icy and what she was going through. I don't understand how all of a sudden she just began to have these jerks and pops. It was very interesting with all the new people and the hospital she goes to. She's very independent and I can relate to that so that made me enjoy it even more. I like how when I read I felt like I was there in the scenes and it made it even better. All in all it was an awesome book.

Because mom said so...

ICy Sparks was a wonderful book to read, and I enjoyed greatly, but the time plausing is a little lengthy and the Author describes many things that are unnessesary to be desrcibed. The characters are quite amusing and the storyline is very good. My mum recommended me the book and I thought it's quaint.

Insanely Disappointing...

This book truley proves that slapping an award onto the front cover wont help the inside at all. The characters and the plot were bland, making you wish that it would just end. But the author skillfully hid the lack of plot and character development behind flamboyant metaphors and similies. Eleven year old girls are not philosophers, so when Icy randomly spews her knowledge it sounded more like the author was talking than the character. This book shall be the first to go to the dump next week.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

There's an Icy in all of us

Icy Sparks is a wonderful novel about a young girl who learns to accept herself despite her differences. She is a spit-fire little girl with a remarkable perspective on life. The story is well-written- a quick read considering the topic. If you're considering reading this novel, don't let the theme of a little girl growing up with Tourettes depress you. No one has even discovered that she has a named disorder. Moreover, the story is told from her perspective, adding a fresh sense of humor. If you're from Kentucky like me, or have visited the deep country, you will love the descriptive scenery. Even if you're not, I think everyone can relate to Icy's childhood. I defintely recommend this book.

Just OK

I read this book because we chose it for our book club. No one really liked it a whole lot. There are a lot of unanswered questions and unexplored thoughts. I enjoyed a good chunk of the book but was thoroughly disappointed in the ending. I won't recommend this to anyone, nor will I keep it to read again in the future. Used book store, here I come!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An Okay Book

Icy Sparks is a novel about a girl who lives with her grandparents because her parents died when she was a baby. Icy has a condition that causes her to tick, croak and yell obscenities. She tries to supress these urges but when people say the right thing the ticks and curses just comes out. This condition, Tourette's Syndrome, goes undiagnosed until she is an adult. Because of this condition, Icy isolates herself and only communicates with her grandparents, her tutor Miss Emily, her principal and a young boy named Peavy. I enjoyed this book, but it was hard to stay into the story at some points. It was interesting to see this disease from the point of view of one who is afflicted with it. I would recommend this book to almost anyone.

Good book, lousy ending

I really enjoyed the majority of this book. However, the ending had a lot to be desired. I felt as if the author decided she had gone far enough and ended it quickly.