Isolation
The main theme of the book is isolation; because she has Tourette's Syndrome, Icy is isolated and really shunned by her peers. She also geographically isolates herself, anxious not to allow her family to see her ticks and twitches. Icy is isolated in a practical sense as well; she is the only person who believes that she is not mentally handicapped, and as she does not fit in with the people at the mental institution she is isolated there as well.
Icy's only friend is also isolated because of her weight. She weighs over three hundred pounds as consequently is ostracized in the same fashion that Icy is. In their isolation the two find common ground.
Lack of Understanding of Touriette's
Tourette's is not a mental disability but Icy is treated as though there is something mentally wrong with her. She is put into a mental institution and not a mainstream hospital because the medical profession do not understand what is actually wrong with her, and because they don't understand they tend to mis-classify. Tourette's also seems to be something that frightens Icy's family. She finds solace in attending a church where people speak in tongues, because she feels that they are the only people who understand the way in which her syndrome works.
Fitting In
Icy has never experienced the feeling of fitting in; when she finds church, though, she feels that she fits, because the people there who talk in tongues, and are respected for doing so. This is the first time that she has felt that she has fit in anywhere and the experience changes her life. It enables her to succeed at school, attend college and turn her negative - Tourette's - into a positive, which is becoming a therapist for children who are afflicted in the same way that she is.
