World Famous Comics: Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1)
Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1)
By: Homer Hickam Publisher: Delta Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Delta Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 368 Publication Date: January 11, 2000 Release Date: January 11, 2000
Product Description: The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that inspired the film October Sky,Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir--a powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the dawn of the 1960s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, of a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outer space . . . and who made those dreams come true.
With the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickam paints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia mining town of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, when anything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed its men alive. A story of romance and loss, of growing up and getting out, Homer Hickam's lush, lyrical memoir is a chronicle of triumph--at once exquisitely written and marvelously entertaining.
Now with 8 pages of photographs.
Amazon.com Review: Inspired by Werner von Braun and his Cape Canaveral team, 14-year-old Homer Hickam decided in 1957 to build his own rockets. They were his ticket out of Coalwood, West Virginia, a mining town that everyone knew was dying--everyone except Sonny's father, the mine superintendent and a company man so dedicated that his family rarely saw him. Hickam's smart, iconoclastic mother wanted her son to become something more than a miner and, along with a female science teacher, encouraged the efforts of his grandiosely named Big Creek Missile Agency. He grew up to be a NASA engineer and his memoir of the bumpy ride toward a gold medal at the National Science Fair in 1960--an unprecedented honor for a miner's kid--is rich in humor as well as warm sentiment. Hickam vividly evokes a world of close communal ties in which a storekeeper who sold him saltpeter warned, "Listen, rocket boy. This stuff can blow you to kingdom come." Hickam is candid about the deep disagreements and tensions in his parents' marriage, even as he movingly depicts their quiet loyalty to each other. The portrait of his ultimately successful campaign to win his aloof father's respect is equally affecting. --Wendy Smith
A fun up-beat read, but nothing fabulous I give this book two stars mostly based on personal taste. It is a fun read, and has an up-beat tone that leaves you feeling pretty good about people and the world. Unfortunately, though, there just isn't much to it. The scenery, characters and story telling are a banal mix of Hickham's strung-together memories and a big rusty can of Americana. There isn't anything very ambitious or exciting about it; Rocket Boys is simple, straight-forward, and decently entertaining. If it were a food, it would be chicken soup. A hearty, unimaginative, comforting bowl of chicken soup.
Highly Entertaining Read. I enjoyed this true life story so much I bought a copy for our grand children. It is inspirational, I would like to see it on the reading list for middle schools everywhere. When young people are motivated, encouraged and supported, they can and many times will do amazing things. To struggle through some difficult circumstances, have some expected support and some un-expected opposition and to achieve their goals was a great story. The relationship between Homer and his father will be related to by many. One page will have you laughing and the next will have you in tears. I loved it.
If you were born in the 40s If you were born in the 40s as I was, in New York, reading this book will take you back to the time you 'heard' about the coaltowns in West Virginia. This story will match your memories ... not to mention your memories of the era it represents. I LOVED it!
escape via rocket escape via rocket, October 6, 2008 By V. N. Dvornychenko (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews
Part "Angela's Ashes" (Frank McCourt) and part "I Aim for the Stars" (Werner von Braun), this book chronicles the efforts of a teenage boy to escape the confines of his West Virginia coal-mining milieu. Fourteen-year-old Homer/Sonny Hickam (the protagonist and author) is determined not to follow in the footsteps of his coalminer father - who is already showing signs of black-lung disease, a disease which will eventually kill him.
Homer/Sonny has an older brother, of whom he is very resentful. Among his brother's "sins" are ease with the girls, success at high school football - and most of all - favor with the parents. Normally there are only two paths for escape from Coalwood: the military, or a football scholarship. The brother, Jim, holds a strong suit in the football option. Homer, slightly built and very nearsighted, knows he has no chance at footfall - and, so it would appear, with the girls. Then a miracle happens.
The "miracle" that provides a third avenue of escape is the launching of Sputnik by the USSR. The shockwaves produced by this event change American values almost overnight. Intellectual "nerds" suddenly become fashionable. Homer hatches a plan which he hopes will eventually land a job designing rockets for Werner von Braun. The plan is to design, build and launch model rockets. Homer collects a circle of followers - mainly other "nerds" -- and together they put the plan into action.
Besides the shockwaves produced by Sputnik, another kind of fault line runs right through the Hickam household. On one side stand Homer with his mother, on the other his father and brother. A major reason for the fault line is that the mother does not wish to see her sons follow the fate of her husband. But that is not all; it appears the mother has certain misgivings about her marriage. With her artistic bent, and something of a free-spirit, she harbors feelings that perhaps -- just perhaps -- she married beneath her station. A consequence of her frustration is that she succeeds in pulling Homer/Sonny over to her side, resulting in a more-or-less permanent rift with the father. It is also interesting to speculate what other personality traits may have resulted from Homer's closeness to his mother. Homer appears to have a penchant for being attracted to girls that give him conflicting signals - somewhat in the manner of Lucy of the famous comic strip, they entice him, only to pull the ball away at the very last second. Homer is also attracted to an "older" woman (though she is only in her early twenties), his science teacher, Freida Riley.
Although Homer appears to fear and hate everything about mining, some of the most spellbinding moments are excursions into the mine. His favorite science teacher would not, however, approve of the chemistry in the book, which contains several mistakes.
I began by characterizing "Rocket Boys" as part "Angela's Ashes" and part "I Aim for the Stars". In retrospect, is little doubt that "I Aim for the Stars" constitutes the minor component. Although much of the book details the design and building of rockets, Homer's fascination with rocketry and Werner von Braun appears to be mostly motivated by this "ticket out of Coalwood." The epilogue to the book reinforces this. After some delays, Homer Hickam does indeed go to work for NASA, and enjoys a successful career. But sadly, no speculations appear in the book regarding man's role in the cosmos - the "extraterrestrial imperative" Krafft Ehricke called it - nor did any subsequent books on astrodynamics or space theory emerge.
The author produced a sequel "Coalwood Ways." Published only two years later, it covers much the same territory, but has a very different flavor. It concentrates on interpersonal relations, and is much "sweeter" in its outlook than its precursor. It gives the appearance that the author underwent some personal event between the two books which changed his outlook. A film, titled "October Sky," was made based on "Rocket Boys." It has a different flavor yet. "Rocket Boys" is a fine book, and after all is said and done, it would appear that Homer Hickam's true calling is writer.
THE EXPERIMENTS DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK ARE VERY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED.
Charming and inspirational Loved this book. Was on the last chapter when I threw October Sky into my Netflix queue; Hoping I'd have it in hand when the book was finished. Timing was perfect. As usual, the book eclipses the movie, but both are great. Passing it onto my 10 year old son who already has aspirations of going into the sciences. Enjoy!
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