Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio has started out to be a really great book. It's told in retrospect and starts out when Icy turns ten. Her eyes are very itchy about a week after her birthday and suddenly pop out of her head. Everyone says she has frog eyes and she is teased constantly. This struck me as interesting because the novel starts with Icy saying to her mother the hairs above her lip are turning gray. In response to this, her grandma says calling to people's flaws isn't nice. This event foreshadows into the conflict in the story, Icy's bulgiing eyes. There's a boy who also has bulging eyes like her and is teased who has a crush on her. She doesn't seem to fond of the idea of boys yet. Also, she is convinced her teacher, Mrs. Stilton, dislikes her. But toward the end of chapter 6, where I stopped, Mrs. Stilton tells the children she has a surprise for them for Halloween. While she is getting them the surprise, Icy turns to her friend and says "It's probably some poison." She proceeds to lists a bunch of nasty things it could be and her friend tells her she is a liar and wants her to be quiet. Mrs. Stilton brings out a cake, and no one ends up sick or poisoned. Icy claims Mrs. Stilton had cast her spell with that cake, because afterward her friend would not speak with her. On the bus ride home, she talks badly about Icy, and how she thinks she is sooo smart, and the teacher sees right through her which is why she hates the teacher. The whole bus and even her whole class turns agaisnt her, even the boy that once had a crush on her. Her class starts to ignore her, and she feels as though she has lost her identity as she can no longer share humor with her classmates while making fun of the teacher.
It's really a sad and moving story about this girl's life as she is teased and ridiculed by her peers, but remains strong through it all. Im excited to keep reading what else she will endure and to see if life will treat her better.
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