Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1) by Homer Hickam
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Book Reviews of Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1)
Book Review: Great Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Rocket Boys is a true story told by NASA engineer, Homer Hickam. Homer tells about his high school life in a mining town called Coalwood. His father is the mine superintendent, and the mine takes supremacy over everything else in his life. Homer is saddened that his father does not seem to care about him. Homer feels like his dad loves his older brother more just because his brother plays football. Homer witnesses the Russian spacecraft, Sputnik, pass over West Virginia and stands there in amazement. His mother gives him the courage to build a rocket of his own even after blowing up her fence with one.
Homer does not know much about rockets except that he has the determination to do whatever it takes to create a great rocket. He decides to ask the class genius, Quentin, for help. They form up a team with some of Homer's other friends. They call their group the Big Creek Missile Agency naming it after the Army Ballistic Missile Agency of American head scientist, Dr. Wernher von Braun. At their site called Cape Coalwood, the BCMA launch their rockets, which they take a pessimistic approach in naming Auks, an extinct bird that could not fly.
The boys expand their knowledge of rockets as they continue to test them. They learn about the effectiveness of different propellants for their rockets. This was very interesting for me to learn currently as a chemistry student in my high school. The first one was black powder (saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur), and was able to get the rockets about a hundred feet into the air. The next propellant was rocket candy (potassium nitrate), and the rockets reached a maximum height of about forty-one hundred feet. Their final propellant was called zincoshine (zinc, sulfur, and alcohol), and their final rocket nearly reached six miles! Rocket Boys is a must read not only for its scientific background but also to learn about the hardships of a teenager living in small-town West Virginia.
Book Review: Rocket Boys
Summary: 5 Stars
One day my class teacher told us we would all be picking a book, reading it, and writing a critique for it. Then she told us we would be placing it on the internet. I wasn't too thrilled about any of this. This book turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be. Rocket Boys, by Homer H. Hickam was written beautifly, tellling the story of a few young boys trying to reach a common goal. Homer "Sonny" Hickam Jr. starts out as a freshman in highschool trying to find a way with the ladies, especially Dorthy, and battling the jocks, one being his brother, for popularity. Sonny takes a sudden intrust in Sputnik. This is what gets him started on his incredibly passoinate love for rockets. His father is a miner and is always gone, as where his mother is incredibly supporting to whatever he does as long as he "doesn't blow himself up." Miss Rilly was another very supporting person in Sonny's life. She is the one that provides the "fuel" for Sonny's dream when she gives him a book on rocketry and encourages him to enter the science fair. I loved how the story is so vivid and colorful, how you can see the excitement, anger, fear, and love that the character expresses. This story also shows you that you have to keep trying to get what you want, and that not everything comes easily, but if you work hard for it, it can be very rewarding. Sonny learns this when he decides to enter the county science fair. It ends up being incredibly rewarding, and surprising to him. He ends up in the national science fair and returns home with a medal. Sonny eventually ends up working for NASA and accomplishing his dream. I loved this book because it was what really happened to him and it shows. He made a lot of really great frinds along the way, whether in the mine workshop or just some "different" people at school. I give this book five stars and would read it again anyday!Book Review: Great Book That Is Hard to Put Down
Summary: 5 Stars
The novel Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam Jr. is based on a true story about 6 average high school kids that do whatever it takes to make their dreams come true. Homer Hickam Jr., the main character whose nickname is Sonny, is born in Coalwood, West Virginia. His father, Homer Hickam Sr., is the superintendent at the local mine. His father constantly obstructs Sonny's work throughout the novel. His mother, Elsie, encourages Sonny to work to be whatever he wants. Sonny's brother, Jim, is a great football star at Big Creek High School. Jim attracts nearly all of their father's attention. He grows up with his best friends, Roy Lee, O'Dell, and Sherman. Sonny falls for Dorothy Plunk, a beautiful girl in his grade, but he is unable to win her heart.
On October 5, 1957, the Russians launch Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the earth. Sonny becomes fascinated with rockets and decides that he will build his own. He gets his friends to join him in making the rockets. In the beginning, the boys struggle to get their rockets off the ground. They ask the class nerd, Quentin, to help them. The boys go through many adventures together in their quest to build rockets. Sonny's goal is to work with Dr. Von Braun. The boys are joined by Billy and name their group the Big Creek Missile Agency. Americans struggle to catch up with the Russians in technology throughout Sonny's childhood.
This novel was extremely informative about the rocket building done by the boys. The inspiration that comes from Sonny's desire to overcome any obstacle to reach his dream is extensive. The adventures that Sonny and his friends go through are often thrilling. I would recommend the novel Rocket Boys to anyone who is looking for a story that is both inspiring and an great adventure. It will be hard to put the book down after one has begun reading it!
Book Review: Rocket Boys
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, Rocket Boys by Homer H.Hickam, Jr. Was absolutely excellent. It not only demonstrated the hard work, persistence, effort and passion that goes into building a complex rocket but also the strong bonds and connections between friends.
This book was about one person, Homer Hickam Jr, who had a strong dream. His dream was to build a working rocket. He got his friends involved, his teachers and many other people who were eager to help him. These people either supplied things to help build the rockets, books, advice or just their skills.
Homer went through many hardships including, breaking his mother's fence twice, getting his dad's approval and blessing and actually building a real functioning rocket. Homer had his own spot for setting off rockets and eventually people started to come to see these rockets set off, many people were becoming interested. At first, many of Homer's rockets just sizzled on the launching pad and either exploded or didn't fly very high. Then, as time went on and the rockets started becoming more sophisticated and complex, the rockets launched better and went further. One of the rockets that Homer and the Rocket Boys launched went up an estimated fifteen thousand feet.
After awhile of launching rockets, Homer and the Rocket Boys entered the school science fair and won. They then proceeded onto Nationals. At Nationals, Homer went through a hardship where one of his materials went missing. Homer had to call home and ask for help. Sure enough, the town all found out and got Homer what he needed for his display at Nationals. Homer won first place in Nationals and continued on to study rockets. All and all, this is an inspiring book that even got me interested in how rockets work. I definitely recommend this book for an inspiring engineer, or somebody who is interested in rockets.
Book Review: Beware of Student Reviews
Summary: 5 Stars
According to Hickam's website, many, many schools study this book and often the students are assigned to put their reviews on sites such as this one. Many are excellent but others are simplistic and some are based on the movie October Sky and not the book. I can usually tell because the movie is so different from the book. The movie-watchers give themselves away. They call the boy narrator Homer (he's Sonny in the book), they write about four boys, rather than the six there actually were, and they misspell his name (Hickam, not Hickman). They also write about scholarships won by the boys when that didn't actually happen. What really happened was much better. They also write about the town as if it was a nasty place while Hickam writes about it lovingly and is obviously grateful that he grew up there. He wrote three more memoirs about life there so I guess that's obvious. Interestingly, he's never written about his days at NASA. Telling the story of Coalwood was more important to him.
I grew up in a coal town similar to Coalwood, West Virginia. What this book really is about is life in a coal town back in the 1950's in the mountains. This way of life is all gone now but it was a vital part of our history and must not be forgotten. It is to be savored. Read Hickam's prose, then read one today's best-sellers and you will be amazed at the difference. His writing literally takes you to a different place and time. You become part of Coalwood, you care about its people, and at the end, you feel as if you grew up there. Not too many books can do this.
I do hope these students will read this book (probably their teacher is going to give them a bad grade). For those students who wrote a review who obviously read the book, I say bravo and keep up the good work!