Icy Sparks (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

That customer gives himself (or herself) away as a small-time, limited reader by remarking against "the idea that a child of 10 years old could have such mature thoughts." In the first place, such a reader probably never encountered Huck Finn, who could have such mature thoughts at the age of 14, or Jo, who could have such mature thoughts in LITTLE WOMEN. In the second place, that reader fails to notice that the book is written by Icy Sparks as a grown-up, looking back on her early years.

ICY SPARKS tells the story of how an orphaned girl in the Kentucky mountains comes to grips with a terrible affliction, the "cussing disease," that years later she will identify as Tourette's Syn! drome. Her behavior mystifies her community and causes her great humiliation, particularly among her classmates, who call her the "Frog Child."

But her condition of being an outcast, which leads eventually to incarceration in a children's asylum, should be understood as a metaphor for the condition of anyone who is a loner, a misfit, a stranger to "conventional" society.

How she learns to live with her condition, and how she triumphs over it, makes a compelling story that will entertain and instruct any reader...except the sort of misguided soul who wrote the following unfortunate words:

Today, we consider ourselves "enlightened" in our views of Tourette Syndrome, but I can report that this is only true in the abstract. Revulsion toward people who cannot control some movements or noises continues even to this day, and prevents their full acceptance and participation in activities that we 'normal' people take for granted; attending church, being allowed in a 'normal' classroom, being accepted by 'normal' peers. The book details how cruelly a likable and talented girl is treated because of her differentness in the 1950's, but it is not so far from the truth of what sometimes happens today to these defenseless and innocent children.

This book could have descended into the misery these people often suffer, but instead it's a book of self discovery, and even triumphs. There is a hilarious passage where Icy is involved in her first relationship with a boy. Although she has Tourette's, we know her as a teenage girl first. We can all identify with the awkwardness that she encounters in what she might have expected to be a romantic interlude.

The book follows Icy to early adulthood, with the scars but also the self knowledge that Icy carries like a veteran. The ending is so uplifting, that I wanted to shout and applaud. All children with Tourette Syndrome, and all the people who care about them, especially their teachers, should read this book cover to cover. Yes, there can be happiness and achievement and triumph for people with Tourette. The book reminds us not to write them off.

The book is so rich in detail that the reader is often left feeling as though they have actually witnessed one of Icy's outbursts. The question is -- from which point of view? One of Gwyn Hyman Rubio's strongest assets is her ability to convey the shock and horror of those around Icy as she "jerks" and "croaks," while at the same time describe Icy's self-hatred of the inablity to control her body.

In the end, this book is not simply about Tourrette's syndrome. It is about human igonrance, fear and tolerance. I would highly recommend it to anyone.