Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1) by Homer Hickam
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Book Reviews of Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1)
Book Review: A Memoir Of Small Town Rural America and a Personal Piece of the Race for Space
Summary: 5 Stars
On the surface, Rocket Boys is the story of a group of small town West Virginia kids who upon seeing Sputnik are inspired to build their own rockets. In doing so, they learn to use a scientific approach and teach themselves trigonometry, calculus, and nozzle design as well as overcome other hurdles and roadblocks from people who didn't believe the sons of West Virginia coalminers could build successful rockets. Through their hard work and tenacity, they change a lot of minds and ultimately win a gold medal at the 1960 National Science Fair. The book inspired the major motion picture, "October Sky"
What truly made this story fascinating to me, however, are Hickam's observations of the people in his life and the dynamics in his family, his town, between the coal company and the union, and at his school. The characters he depicts are fascinating and he describes these characters in such a way you are drawn in and feel like you are a part of the town and the "Big Creek Missile Agency." The mining engineer and former fighter pilot who befriends and assists the young rocketeers, the teacher who inspires them and helps Hickam through rocky times in this life, and his mother, who must be a really incredible person, are all described in detail and make you wish you could meet them. Hickam makes you feel the joy of his successes as well as the sorrow of his personal losses and heartbreaks. After reading this book, I happened to be in that area and took a trip up route 16 through War, WV (where Big Creek High School is located) to Coalwood. After reading Hickam's descriptions, it was easy to make out the landmarks and the pieces of his childhood that still remain.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Book Review: A Memoir about Finding Your Dream
Summary: 5 Stars
"Rocket Boys" by Homer Hickam is his personal memoir of how he got started on his life's passion.
Our main character is the son the of the mine supervisor in Coalwood, West Virginia. Coalwood is a close-knit company town centered around the coal mine. The company provides housing, medical/dental care, education as well as employment. Homer's father is the defacto mayor of this town.
The Hickam family is dysfunctional. Homer's father is monomanically obsessed with his coal mine. Homer's mother understands and resents this. Her dream is to move to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina away from the grimy mining towns she has always lived in. The two parents fight their battle in words and silently, vicariously through their sons.
Homer called "Sonny' belongs to his mother. His older brother, Jim is more his fathers son. Sonny is the romantic dreamy type. Roy Lee is the popular best-dressed jock. The two brother despise each other and have as little to do with each other as possible.
When the story begins it is 1957, Sputnik has launched. On impulse Sonny announces he is going to build a rocket. No one takes him seriously. He's a lackluster high school student a fact his father never ceases to remind him of. But with the help of his friends and a dedicated teacher, he learns the fundamentals of rocketry. Their experiments in rocketry eventually engage the entire community.
Homer and his friends grow with their experiments as do their expectations in life. Along they way they have to deal with the problems of growing up teenagers in tough coal mining country.
This book is about young men finding themselves and rising above their circumstances.
Book Review: Book Review
Summary: 5 Stars
The book Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam Jr. is a great book. Probably the most amazing thing about this book is that it is a true story. It is a story about some kids that followed their dreams and built rockets. The main character, Sonny, gets the idea from seeing Sputnik being launched. He starts making rockets from scratch, getting help from miners that can weld metals together. Sonny quickly gets in over his head and asks the school genius, Quentin, for help. Together, throughout the book they try mixing all different things like sulfur, charcoal, and even sugar to make the most potent rocket fuel they can. The rocket boys encounter many troubles throughout the story, all of which are described vividly by Hickam. One problem they encounter is that the new superintendent really tries hard to get the boys to stop shooting rockets. Also, none of the boys are really rich, and supplies aren't cheap. At one point they cut up a water drainpipe and sold it as scrap metal. After everything was sold they were still in debt. Though this is a big problem, the town bands together to support the boys and what they are doing. The townspeople stand up to the new superintendent and tell him that he can't stop the rocket boys. Rocket Boys is a great story with lots of twists and turns, and is definitely better than the movie version. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a good story. Rocket Boys has a little in it for everyone. There is romance between Sonny and Dorothy, Sonny's crush. Also, there is lots of adventure, because the boys don't always use legal methods to get their supplies. Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam is a great book and definitely deserves to be read by everyone.Book Review: A Great Book..
Summary: 5 Stars
The book Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam Jr. is an amazing piece of literature. It is a fun story packed with lots of twists and turns. In this story there is lots of adventure, with themes of friendship, love, and family. Hickam does a great job explaining the entire story of the rocket boys and about their adventures. The book starts off with Hickam explaining about the town of Coalwood and how it is a mining town. There is one big company that owns everything in the town and families are allowed to live in the houses as long as someone in the household works in the mine. However, mines are very dangerous, and when the main character Sonny becomes interested in rockets, his mother encourages him to follow that dream so that one day he can go to college and get out of Coalwood. The story of Sonny and his rockets is amazing. Sonny started from scratching, knowing nothing about rockets. He builds his own rockets and mixes his own fuel with the help of the school genius, Quentin, and other friends. The rockets get welded together by a machinist from the mine. The town helps out and supports all the rocket boys and what they are doing. Even when people try to stop the rocket boys from launching their rockets, everyone in the town supports them and fights for them to keep firing rockets. As the story progresses Sonny and the boys eventually make a rocket that flies nearly 6 miles in the air! This was my favorite book to read and I recommend it to anyone that can read. Seeing the movie doesn't cut it either, the book has so many more details that it would be a waste to only see the movie. Buy this book today and read it, and you will see just what I mean.Book Review: Follow Your Dreams to the Stars - The Power of Curiosity and Education
Summary: 5 Stars
Rocket Boys, also released in paperback as October Sky (renamed for the fine movie of the same name) is the incredibly inspiring true story of Homer Hickam, who, along with his friends in the late 1950's, grew up in the small mining town of Coalwood West Virginia. Inspired by the launch of Sputnik, which flies directly above their isolated mountain community one night, Hickam forms the Big Creek Missle Agency with his friends and proceeds to experiment with and build model rockets from bits and pieces they find around the local coal mines. Their burning curiosities overcome the small-mindedness of people who tell them their rockets won't work, lack of information, limited supplies, mine strikes and violence which threaten the community as a whole, and more. Thanks to the help of a brilliant teacher who sees the potential in these young men, they overcome all adversities to compete in the National Science Fair. This is truly an amazing story.
I grew up in Southern West Virginia about an hour away from Coalwood, and being familiar with the numerous small coal mining towns dotting the region makes the story all the more inspiring. Against all odds the boys of the Big Creek Missle Agency use education, much of it self-taught and hard-won, to escape the coal fields and go to college. Author Homer Hickam even fulfills a lifelong dream and eventually lands a job working for NASA itself.
Rocket Boys proves that through education, hard work and a never-ending curiosity, you too can make your dreams come true. Highly recommended.