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| Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1) | 
| Author: Homer Hickam
Publisher: Delta
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $3.93
You Save: $10.07 (72%)
New (39) Collectible (2) from $7.69
Avg. Customer Rating:  534 reviews
Sales Rank: 7826
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0385333218
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.1092273
EAN: 9780385333214
ASIN: 0385333218
Publication Date: January 11, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Good condition. Book shows minor cover wear. Generally clean. Certainly readable and usable. Ready to ship!
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Amazon.com
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
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.
A number-one New York Times bestseller in mass market, brought to the screen in the acclaimed film October Sky, Homer Hickam's memoir, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, comes to trade paperback with an all-new photo insert.
One of the most beloved bestsellers in recent years, Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir. A powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the end of the 1950s, it is the story of a mother's love and a father's fears, of growing up and getting out. With the grace of a natural storyteller, Homer Hickam looks back after a distinguished NASA career to tell his own true story of growing up in a dying coal town and of how, against the odds, he made his dreams of launching rockets into outer space come true.
A story of romance and loss and a keen portrait of life at an extraordinary point in American history, Rocket Boys is a chronicle of triumph.
Download Description
It was 1957, the year Sputnik raced across the Appalachian sky, and the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia, was slowly dying. Faced with an uncertain future, Homer Hickam nurtured a dream: to send rockets into outer space. The introspective son of the mine's superintendent and a mother determined to get him out of Coalwood forever, Homer fell in with a group of misfits who learned not only how to turn scraps of metal into sophisticated rockets but how to sustain their hope in a town that swallowed its men alive. As the boys began to light up the tarry skies with their flaming projectiles and dreams of glory, Coalwood, and the Hickams, would never be the same.
"A thoroughly charming memoir... [An] eloquent evocation of a lost time and place."
A,AA,AA,ATHE NEW YORK TIMES"A stirring tale that offers something unusual these days... a message of hope in an age of cynicism."
A,AA,AA,ATHE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
Cover art copyright A,A 1999 Universal Studios Publishing Rights, A Division of Universal Studios Licensing, inc. All Rights Reserved.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 529 more reviews...
 school project July 6, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Was purchased due to a requirement by my childs school. He has informed me it is a good book.
Amazing True Story May 9, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
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.
 Rockets in West Virginia March 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
... "On June 4, 1960, the Big Creek Missile Agency, fresh from its medal winning performance at the National Science Fair, is sponsoring a day of rocket launches at its Cape Coalwood range. Everyone reading these words is invited..." This quote can be found on page 356-357 of a book called Rocket Boys; this statement showed me that the success of the main characters was a result of personal hard work and teamwork.
"Rocket Boys" by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. is a nonfiction account of a group of friends from Coalwood, West Virginia in the early 1960's who have a fetish for making rockets. Homer and his friends have a dream to shoot a rocket up into the clouds. This story gives the reader a message that dreams really can come true.
Rocket Boys is one of the strongest books I have ever read. The author accomplished his goals to tell people that team work is one of the most important things to know in your life. This book is recommended for people that like space and rockets and who want a hopeful book to read. Reading Rocket Boys really gets you thinking about team work and how far you can get with it.
Great Story March 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was a little disappointed by the ending and the fact that Homer Hickam gave John Kennedy the idea to go to the Moon but other than that I couldn't help but root for the band of misfits.
Countdown to Adventure! March 11, 2008
I bought this book and the audio tapes and my son and I listened and read this amazing book together. Our plan was to read for 30 minutes a night...however it was sooooooo good we listened and read for 5 hours!
We are now going to rent the movie that was made from the film! All systems go....we enjoyed the adventure!
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