Customer Reviews

Rocket Boys: A Memoir (The Coalwood Series #1)

5 star:		(463)
4 star:		(104)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For those who loved the movie "October Sky", this book gives even more insight to the life of a teenage boy in Coalwood, West Virginia, in a time where the "outside world" was concerned with the Cold War and Dr. von Braun's team with "cashing up to the Russians in rocketry." The residents in Coalwood, however, were more concerned with what was below them rather than above, and with their dominant high school football team. 14-year-old Homer Hickam, Jr. (Sonny)is aware that only football stars (like his older brother Jim)ever get college scholarships, and the glory that he and his ragtag group of friends envy. It is common knowledge that the rest must work in or for the mine in the company-owned town. However, seeing Sputnik fly in 1957 and the attempts of Dr. von Braun's missiles, Sonny is inspired to launch his own rockets. With the support from his Mom, teacher, and friends (little from his father, the manager of the mines), Sonny, Roy Lee, and Sherman form the BCMA- Big Creek Missile Agency. They are later joined by Quentin and Billy, becoming widely known throughout Coalwood as the "Rocket Boys". They suffer through many mishaps during their teenage years, but manage to pull through. Sprinkled with humor, romance, and sadness, this book tells of a boy growing up trying to earn the approval of his father, his town, and ultimately himself. Many parts will make you laugh- Mom's constant warning not to "blow yourself up", Roy Lee's advice to Sonny about his love, Dorothy, and the Rocket Boy's experience getting moonshine for rocket fuel- and ending up drunk! Other parts will make a shiver run down your spine- how Sonny had to face his bitterness after the mine accident, and his arguments with his father. I got the same tingle reading the last chapter that I got from watching the movie- which is also wonderful. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever fought hard to accomplish a dream. It is a truly inspiring memoir that will leave anyone with a feeling of happiness, sadness, and satisfaction all rolled into one. Read "Rocket Boys"- you won't forget it.

I get so depressed by some of the books on the market. Heavy themes, hidden meanings, verbose authors. October Sky is a get what you see book. It is simple but not too simple. It is an honest story about an honest guy growing up in West Virginia. His life is like ours. He has friends and enemies, successes and failures, girlfriends and conflicts.

But his life is also a model for our time. Homer Hickam is a very special person and he has told the story of his life in this book. Mr. Hickam grew up modestly in a coal mining town. His love of rocketry, no his passion for rocketry pulls him out of an average community and propels him to success inspite of his family and surroundings.

Few books appeal to adults and young adults alike. This is one. I want my wife to read it as well as my 13 year old son. Hickam is a mentor and I've never even met him. This is such down to earth honest writing it makes you smile.

Read this wonderful story and you will have a hard time approaching your next mystery or drama. It is refeshing. I don't even want to see the movie after reading this book. I want the images I have to last not the ones Hollywood created.

Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys was one of those books that I couldn't put down, and I thought about for a long time after I finished it. There is humor mixed in with the story of one boy's determination to succeed in achieving his goals. I would recommend this book to people who are looking for an inspiring story. It is about growing up in a rural mining town in West Virginia struggling to accomplish goals in space when the main concern of the town is what is below the ground, not what is above it. I thought that this was an excellent book and would recommend it to teenagers as well as adults. It's considered an adult book, but it is an easy book to read and teenagers can relate to the main character. This is one of my favorite books.

Through reading this book, I have learned that hard work and determination will allow a person to reach his or her goals in life. In this book, Homer Hickam had many obstacles to overcome in order to reach his goal of becoming a rocket scientist. This book has taught me that if I have a dream, I must try to reach it. No matter how many and how hard the obstacles are that come in the way of dreams, a person must keep trying. I would also recommend seeing the movie that was based on this book, October Sky. October Sky is an accurate presentation of the story. If you have already seen the movie, you are sure to enjoy this book.

For the record, I am writing this September 15, the first day Rocket Boys is available from Amazon or any bookstore. At this moment, the book's "Amazon.com Sales Rank" is 45,793. Just wait.

I was heading out of town last week for two long business travel days when a bookseller friend handed me an advance reading copy of Rocket Boys and said, "Read this and tell me what you think."

I was so moved by the book, I could not put it down. It is a classic coming-of-age tale. A sweet, poignant, inspirational tale that is good on so many, many levels. Don't get me wrong: this is no gooey memoir. It is a gritty, obviously honest and emotional story with complex characters. It is at times gripping, sad and outrageously funny. It is one of those rare books that can be read by parents and their high school-aged children with deep relevance - and inspiration - for both.

And while I could go on and on about the many facets of the book I enjoyed, I found myself most impressed by the author's ability to engage me in a story in which high school math and science play pivotal roles. While Sonny is no math genius like, say, Will Hunting, he is passionate about his quest for the mathematical knowledge that will help him break free of his coal mining hometown's gravitational pull.

This book will be required reading one day in high schools everywhere. Not only for its literary quality, but for the way in which it will surely inspire future generations of Sonny Hickams to realize winning can be found other places than on the football field; that even if your background and family seems to be overbearing burdens, you can still aim high...and soar.

The only reason I read this book was because I saw the movie and loved it. The book was so much better though and totally deserves more than 5 stars. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who saw the movie, and liked it, or maybe grew up in a coal-mining town and felt like reading this book. Take my word for it: it's great

I like so many others picked this book expecting little and ended up reading it from cover to cover without much of a break. I agree with a reviewer below. When all the other books of this age - Angela's Ashes, Oprah's Books, etc. - are long forgotten, people are going to be studying this book around the world as representative of all that was once great about America and Americans. I hope Mr. Hickam continues to write forever. I'll never miss another one of his books.

If all Hickman had done was give us a portrait of life and growing up in an Appalacian coal mining town in the 50's, this would be a great book. But Hickman uses this setting as the foundation of a much larger story...the race to space, the revolution in America caused by Sputnick, and the opening of small towns accross America to the wider world with the advent of mass communications.

Of course, at base, this is a typical coming of age teen story. During the course of the book, we watch as Hickman grows from a self centered kid into a teen with an accute awareness of the complexity, moral choices, and dangers of the world beyond the borders of his hometown--and of the dangers lurking right at home.

But Homer Hickman is no ordinary teen. He dreams of space. He knows he is destined to build rockets--though he knows absolutely nothing of rocketry, and is failing algebra. Nonetheless, he perseveres. Using his own natrual smarts, his ability to talk his parents, other adults, and many of his friends into anything, and using his "political" connections shrewdly (his father is the mine manager), he overcomes all hurdles--technological and personal--to build a rocket that works.

He doesn't stop there. Once he gets a rocket to fly, he wants to get one into orbit. It is this quest (reminiscent of so many other quest books form Don Quixote to Moby Dick) that forms the center piece of the narrative, and is the engine for opening his mind to the realities of the world beyond his coal mining town.

Needless to say, since he wrote the book, he obviously escaped. The journey is inspiring. The writing inspired. The book is a must read for adults and teens alike.

Homer Hickam grew up in a rural isolated mountain town but went on to win the National Science Fair.

This book is his story and how he was successful.

I bought 24 copies of this book to inspire my advanced 6th grade Reading class. They loved the book. In our discussions they mentioned never giving up. Homer and his friends kept trying until they had success.

Thank you for sharing your life with us, Mr. Hickam.

Imagine it's the 1950's and you are growing up in a small town. When you get older, you know you are destined to be a coal miner. No one lets you forget that. But you have other plans, other dreams. You want to travel to Cape Canaveral, in Florida to work for NASA. The only chance you have is to go to college and get a scholarship because money is scarce. You have to find some way to fulfill your dream, and the odds are against you. In the book, October Sky, that is what happened to Homer Hickam and his friends. This is a very wholesome book and gives you a good feeling after reading it. October Sky has a powerful theme throughout the story- If you believe and work hard, your dreams and wishes will come true no matter how many obstacles. Find a way to get over them. I think the best part of the book is when the 'Rocket Boys', Homer (also known as Sonny in the book), Billy, Roy Lee, O'Dell, and Sherman never give up. When most of their rockets explode and fail, they keep trying. The boys show that hard work and belief are the most important things in life. I also likes the setting of this story- a small town with big dreams. The characters in the town of Coalwood have a sense of duty when something terrible happens at the Science Fair. They band together to help Homer face the final obstacle to his sucess. October Sky is believable, and I liked how the author wrote it about himself. There were a few things I didn't like about the book, though not many. Sometimes it went into too much detail about mining, rocketry, and math terms that I didn't understand. In spite of that, I gave this book five out of five stars. October Sky is my all time favorite book. I would recommend the book October Sky to anyone fifth grade and older. This is because it is a long book and and takes a while to read. Some of it would be confusing for anyone younger, but it is a great book overall. It lifts your spirits and makes you realize that even a seeminly impossible dream sometimes comes true.

If life were a game of cards, it would appear that, in the book "Rocket Boys," Homer Hickam, Jr. was dealt a losing hand. His brother, Jim, was the school's star athlete. Jim had his father's support and admiration. Most importantly, Jim could get a scholarship from football, and get out of Coalwood. Homer, was not so lucky, it appeared as if he would never earn his father's approval or escape the death trap of working in the coalmine.

The forces that shape identity are as numerous as cards in a deck. It is the unique combination of forces that make each person an individual. As the cards are dealt, the forces change and the identity shaped. The forces can be said to fall into four categories or suits: dream, hopes and heroes represented as diamonds; uncontrollable and natural events as clubs; barriers and opposing forces as spades; and family and friends as hearts.

On October 4, 1957, Russians launched Sputnik into space. The Americans were scrambling to successfully launch a rocket into space. Dr. Warner von Braun was on a team of scientists working to build and launch a rocket. This is when Homer's identity begins to take shape. He was inspired to build a rocket. He was dealt a winning card, in the suit of diamonds. Homer now had a hero. He had dreams of working with Dr. von Braun, a reason to work toward his deepest hope, and a way out of Coalwood. Perhaps he could impress his father as well. Without inspiration, Homer never would have tried building rockets or discovered his true potential. The suit of diamonds was important in shaping his identity because without dreams, Homer would have settled for living in Coalwood, and without an idol, he would have given up when times got tough.

Once Homer felt he had a purpose, cards in the suit of clubs were dealt into his hand. Unexpected and uncontrollable events occur at anytime. Nature constantly creates obstacles. Nature was often cruel to Homer. Although the sight of mountains made him feel at home, his near death experience when he was caught in a blizzard of mountain snow would make the reader think otherwise. He collapsed half way home; he was wet, freezing, and exhausted. This time Homer received a card of hearts with his card of clubs. Homer probably would have died if it were not for Geneva Eggers. She took him in and gave him food, dry clothes, and a warm place to rest. This experience taught Homer that kindness is a wonderful virtue. Money and image are not as important as what is inside a person. Geneva saved Homer's life, and she also became Homer's friend.

Another card of clubs was dealt with Mr. Hickam's illness. Homer's father often coughed due to a common miner's disease. The black spot on his lung was about the size of a dime, but such a small spot was still a serious problem. The author used his father's sickness to stress the importance and the motivation to get out of Coalwood. It also taught Homer that the strongest people can become weak, and the bravest people get scared. The suit of clubs did not help Homer win the game, but made the game interesting. It shaped his identity with maturity, which gave him an edge in the game.

Homer's identity was also shaped by cards in the suit of spades representing opposing forces or barriers caused by people. He had to overcome barriers that would postpone him from building a successful rocket and from winning the science fair. An economic downturn was causing union unrest at the mine. As the mine foreman, people in Coalwood blamed Homer's dad. Homer realized that people would hate him because of his father. Homer's best friend and confidante through tough times was his cat, Daisy Mae. However, she was ruthlessly murdered in a car "accident" by one of Mr. Hickam's enemies. The death of Daisy Mae made Homer realize that revenge is not best.

Another identity shaping incident occurred when Jim brought Homer's high school crush, Dorothy, to a dance. Homer felt betrayed by his brother and by Dorothy. Homer felt heartbreak for the first time and realized that not only strangers can make life tough, family and friends can also. Homer showed strength of character as he demonstrated that he understood that he could not have everything he wanted. Sometimes a card will be dealt the does not seem to be worthwhile, but raises the score at the end of the game.

Just as Homer thought he was going to lose the game, he found the cards that he had in his hand the whole time, the perfect cards to win the game. These identity-shaping cards were in the suit of hearts. Friends, and family fall into this suit. Homer's mother was always there for him, giving him inspiration and supporting his actions. She helped him greatly, encouraging him and standing up to Mr. Hickam about Homer activities. She always thought that Homer was special. She shaped his identity by reminding him to choose his own path and with the promise of the Elsie Hickam Scholarship. She wanted to be sure that his future was not in Coalwood.

Miss Riley, his teacher also encouraged him constantly and was proud of Homer no matter what he did. In addition to her support, she gave him a tangible gift that would forever change his life, a book about rockets and fuels. The book was full of formulas and pointers. Without this book, the BMCA may have never launched a rocket that surpassed a mile and truly earn the name "Rocket Boys."

As the cards representing the four main forces that shaped Homer's identity were put into play, it was encouraging to see the results. "October Sky" (Rocket Boys) is definitely worth reading because it shows that no matter the hand you are dealt, you can still win the game.