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Coalwood #1
October Sky
"Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my home town was at war with itself over its children, and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night. And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we built our rockets, but those were mine."
So begins Homer "Sonny" Hickam Jr.'s extraordinary memoir of life in Coalwood, West Virginia - a hard-scrabble little mining company town where the only things that mattered were coal mining and high school football and where the future was regarded with more fear than hope.
Looking back after a distinguished NASA career, Hickam shares the story of his youth, taking readers into the life of the little mining town of Coalwood and the boys who would come to embody its dreams.
In 1957 a young man watched the Soviet satellite Sputnik shoot across the Appalachian sky and soon found his future in the stars. 'Sonny' and a handful of his friends, Roy Lee Cook, Sherman O'Dell and Quentin Wilson were inspired to start designing and launching the home-made rockets that would change their lives forever.
Step by step, with the help (and occasional hindrance) of a collection of unforgettable characters, the boys learn not only how to turn scrap into sophisticated rockets that fly miles into the sky, but how to sustain their dreams as they dared to imagine a life beyond its borders in a town that the postwar boom was passing by.
A powerful story of growing up and of getting out, of a mother's love and a father's fears, Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys proves, like Angela's Ashes and Russell Baker's Growing Up before it, that the right storyteller and the right story can touch readers' hearts and enchant their souls.
A uniquely endearing book with universal themes of class, family, coming of age, and the thrill of discovery, Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys is evocative, vivid storytelling at its most magical.
In 1999, Rocket Boys was made into a Hollywood movie named October Sky starring Chris Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern. October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys. It is also used in a period radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed the 'October sky'. Homer Hickam stated that "Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys" so Universal Pictures changed the title to be more inviting to a wider audience. The book was later re-released with the name October Sky in order to capitalize on interest in the movie.
So begins Homer "Sonny" Hickam Jr.'s extraordinary memoir of life in Coalwood, West Virginia - a hard-scrabble little mining company town where the only things that mattered were coal mining and high school football and where the future was regarded with more fear than hope.
Looking back after a distinguished NASA career, Hickam shares the story of his youth, taking readers into the life of the little mining town of Coalwood and the boys who would come to embody its dreams.
In 1957 a young man watched the Soviet satellite Sputnik shoot across the Appalachian sky and soon found his future in the stars. 'Sonny' and a handful of his friends, Roy Lee Cook, Sherman O'Dell and Quentin Wilson were inspired to start designing and launching the home-made rockets that would change their lives forever.
Step by step, with the help (and occasional hindrance) of a collection of unforgettable characters, the boys learn not only how to turn scrap into sophisticated rockets that fly miles into the sky, but how to sustain their dreams as they dared to imagine a life beyond its borders in a town that the postwar boom was passing by.
A powerful story of growing up and of getting out, of a mother's love and a father's fears, Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys proves, like Angela's Ashes and Russell Baker's Growing Up before it, that the right storyteller and the right story can touch readers' hearts and enchant their souls.
A uniquely endearing book with universal themes of class, family, coming of age, and the thrill of discovery, Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys is evocative, vivid storytelling at its most magical.
In 1999, Rocket Boys was made into a Hollywood movie named October Sky starring Chris Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern. October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys. It is also used in a period radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed the 'October sky'. Homer Hickam stated that "Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys" so Universal Pictures changed the title to be more inviting to a wider audience. The book was later re-released with the name October Sky in order to capitalize on interest in the movie.
428 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Homer Hickam
25 books643 followersHomer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) is the author of many best-sellers including his latest, Don't Blow Yourself Up. An eclectic writer, he wrote the "Coalwood Series," which includes the # 1 New York Times best-selling memoir Rocket Boys, (made into the ever-popular movie October Sky) the World War II-era "Josh Thurlow" series, the juvenile sci-fi "Crater" series, the adult thriller The Dinosaur Hunter, the romantic Red Helmet, and many others. Among his many writing awards are the University of Alabama's Clarence Cason Award and the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award plus an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Marshall University. For more information on Mr. Hickam and his books and cats and everything else, please go to http://www.homerhickam.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,281 reviews
July 3, 2016
I just spent the last 3 days in Coalwood, WV, and would have stayed longer, but turned the last page of this wonderful book. What a great story of growing up, coping with difficulties, ambition, family disappointments, friends, teachers; in short, the things that made Homer Hickam, Jr. the man he is today.
There was a lot of nostalgia in this book for me. I grew up in Catsburg, NC, a tobacco farming community instead of a coal mining town. It was a time when we children pretty much ran free through the yards, woods and fields, only expected to be around when supper was ready, and not to embarrass our parents in the meantime. No cell phones or computers, handling our own problems, making our own fun. We grew up just fine.
Homer and the Rocket Boys had that kind of freedom. They formed a club , The BCMA (Big Creek Missile Agency) to learn to shoot off rockets after being inspired by Sputnik. Their curiosity and enthusiasm took on a life of it's own. The high school teachers and townspeople did what they could to help. The project brought a community together, won a national science fair, and showed six boys from coal mining families that there was a different future for them after all. The hard work and persistence of those boys is awe-inspiring to me. In this age of "just Google it", to think that these guys had to teach themselves calculus to get their rockets into the air; had to rely on trial and error to find the right propellant; had to find the money and time to put it all together, at the same time navigating poverty, adolescent love, schoolwork, and family situations; it leaves me speechless.
This book is required reading for 9th graders in my town, and now I see why. I just hope a few of them can take inspiration from the themes of hard work and never say die attitude on these pages. A big thanks to Homer Hickam, Jr. for sharing his story and his town with us.
There was a lot of nostalgia in this book for me. I grew up in Catsburg, NC, a tobacco farming community instead of a coal mining town. It was a time when we children pretty much ran free through the yards, woods and fields, only expected to be around when supper was ready, and not to embarrass our parents in the meantime. No cell phones or computers, handling our own problems, making our own fun. We grew up just fine.
Homer and the Rocket Boys had that kind of freedom. They formed a club , The BCMA (Big Creek Missile Agency) to learn to shoot off rockets after being inspired by Sputnik. Their curiosity and enthusiasm took on a life of it's own. The high school teachers and townspeople did what they could to help. The project brought a community together, won a national science fair, and showed six boys from coal mining families that there was a different future for them after all. The hard work and persistence of those boys is awe-inspiring to me. In this age of "just Google it", to think that these guys had to teach themselves calculus to get their rockets into the air; had to rely on trial and error to find the right propellant; had to find the money and time to put it all together, at the same time navigating poverty, adolescent love, schoolwork, and family situations; it leaves me speechless.
This book is required reading for 9th graders in my town, and now I see why. I just hope a few of them can take inspiration from the themes of hard work and never say die attitude on these pages. A big thanks to Homer Hickam, Jr. for sharing his story and his town with us.
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May 11, 2008If there is one, just ONE thing that was monumentally historic in this book, a revealing glimpse into our culture's rich history and sociological mindset, it had nothing to do with rockets.
DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE, THAT FIFTY YEARS AGO, PEOPLE WERE HOOKING UP IN BAND BUSES!?
Holy mother of french horns, it's ingrained in our history. I'm not talking to you, ex-cheerleaders belonging to the "'Twilight' fanclubs", you emo english lit majors arguing over poe. You couldn't understand.
Only a certain type of person--- a special combination of musicianship, athleticism and geekiness, if you will--- will truly comprehend the depth of connection I felt after reading Homer's elation at having Dorothy Plunk drift off to sleep on his shoulder while the bus plowed through West Virginia backcountry. That beautiful contentedness with the world, that feeling of satisfaction at the day's performance, the wind whipping through your hair, cuddled up for warmth with half the trumpet section as your dirty, poorly maintained and diesel belching bus careens through the night at the hands of some ill-trained and half asleep band booster.
*sigh*
I mean, serious relationships all over this country have been SOLD on late night band bus trips. Marriages made. Babies born (after the marriages, i mean. we're not cheerleaders, afterall). I'm willing to bet that thousand of American teenagers would never have logged thousands of solid make-out practice hours without this type of magical transportation.I just never guessed it had been around for so long. It's like discovering your great ancestors also signed in at the gym just to get a smoothie so their account would show they came more than three times a week and were actually using their membership. anyway, i digress.
solid book. can't beat the style of writing, it may be slow, but it matches his personality so completely you know it must be genuine. and somehow, for it, the pay off in the end is greater--- i was heartbroken to read the epilogue about dorothy, that she was even the first part of it at all.
homer, i really liked you, man. you should have known, the woodwinds can be a bitch. because i feel like we're friends, and it's never too late for a rocket scientist (you charmer!) ... you can NEVER go wrong with a percussionist.
DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE, THAT FIFTY YEARS AGO, PEOPLE WERE HOOKING UP IN BAND BUSES!?
Holy mother of french horns, it's ingrained in our history. I'm not talking to you, ex-cheerleaders belonging to the "'Twilight' fanclubs", you emo english lit majors arguing over poe. You couldn't understand.
Only a certain type of person--- a special combination of musicianship, athleticism and geekiness, if you will--- will truly comprehend the depth of connection I felt after reading Homer's elation at having Dorothy Plunk drift off to sleep on his shoulder while the bus plowed through West Virginia backcountry. That beautiful contentedness with the world, that feeling of satisfaction at the day's performance, the wind whipping through your hair, cuddled up for warmth with half the trumpet section as your dirty, poorly maintained and diesel belching bus careens through the night at the hands of some ill-trained and half asleep band booster.
*sigh*
I mean, serious relationships all over this country have been SOLD on late night band bus trips. Marriages made. Babies born (after the marriages, i mean. we're not cheerleaders, afterall). I'm willing to bet that thousand of American teenagers would never have logged thousands of solid make-out practice hours without this type of magical transportation.I just never guessed it had been around for so long. It's like discovering your great ancestors also signed in at the gym just to get a smoothie so their account would show they came more than three times a week and were actually using their membership. anyway, i digress.
solid book. can't beat the style of writing, it may be slow, but it matches his personality so completely you know it must be genuine. and somehow, for it, the pay off in the end is greater--- i was heartbroken to read the epilogue about dorothy, that she was even the first part of it at all.
homer, i really liked you, man. you should have known, the woodwinds can be a bitch. because i feel like we're friends, and it's never too late for a rocket scientist (you charmer!) ... you can NEVER go wrong with a percussionist.
July 3, 2016
The story of Homer Hickam who while growing up in now extinct Coalwood, West Virginia, forms a group of higher reaching miner's son's who become proficient backyard rocket launchers and provide much needed hope to the entire town. If you're of an age to remember Sputnik and the great arms race and enjoy a soundtrack of songs from the early 1960's you will most likely be a fan of this endearing coming of age tale which was the basis of the film October Sky. Book 4.5 stars. Epilogue 5 stars.
May 14, 2023
Homer Hickam Jr.
Homer Hickam Jr. is an American author, a Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer. In this memoir, Hickam describes his coming of age in Coalwood, West Virginia.
*****
When Homer Hickam Jr. (nicknamed Sonny) is a boy in Coalwood, West Virginia in the mid-1900s, it's a 'company town.' Coalwood is run by a coal mining outfit that provides homes for the miners, as well as a church, pastor, doctor, dentist, and Big Store (general store). Boys in Coalwood grow up to join the military or work in the mine.....except for the occasional high school football player who gets a scholarship to college.
Outside view of coal mine in Coalwood, West Virginia
Coal miners in Coalwood, West Virginia
Coalwood in the 1930s. From left to right: doctor's office, clubhouse, post office, company store, offices, school
Sonny's father, Homer Hickam Sr., is the superintendent of the coal mine and spends most of his time at work. Hickam Sr. is intensely loyal to his employer despite the fact that mining is a terribly dangerous occupation. Sonny recalls, "Back then, I thought life in Coalwood was pretty ordinary, even though men died or were horribly maimed in the mine all the time. My grandfather, run over by a careening shuttle car, lost both his legs and lived in pain until the day he died. My father lost an eye to a snapped cable while trying to rescue trapped miners, though he kept on working for fifteen years afterward. He would eventually die of black lung, which is a polite way of saying he suffocated to death, his lungs choked with coal dust."
Homer Hickam Sr. (Homer's father)
Sonny's mother Elsie hates her husband's line of work, constantly begs him to quit, and doesn't want her sons to toil in the mine. Sonny's older brother Jim, who's a handsome, high school football star, seems likely to get away, but Hickam Sr. expects nearsighted, non-athletic Sonny to be a clerk for the mining company. This creates constant tension between Elsie and her spouse, who sleep in separate bedrooms. Sonny notes, "One of the things I used to think about was the cold war between my parents, a war that had been fought without cease all the days I had known them."
Elsie Hickam (Homer's mother)
Jim Hickam (Homer's brother)
As a youngster, Sonny was an imaginative boy who liked to play with his friends, watch movies, and read.
Young Homer Hickam Jr. (nicknamed Sonny)
Sonny's grade school teachers assigned Tom Sawyer and Uncle Tom's Cabin and Sonny himself chose Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books. As Sonny got older, he read the classics for school and science-fiction for fun, foreshadowing his interest in the space race. Sonny recalls, "When I was a boy, one of my favorite places to go was a pine-filled hollow high on the mountain behind our house. It was a place where the industrial song of Coalwood subsided. I would sit on a dead log and listen to nothing except the beating of my own heart and the thoughts racing through my head."
The turning point in Sonny's life comes in 1957, when Sonny is a 14-year-old sophomore at Big Creek High School, and the Russians launch Sputnik - the first satellite in space. As Sonny watches the blip of light that's Sputnik soaring over West Virginia, he decides he wants to build rockets. At the same time, the United States launches a proto-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) initiative, promoting math and science classes in schools across the country, including Big Creek High School.
Sputnik is launched on October 4, 1957
Teenage Homer Hickam Jr.
Sonny and his friends - Quintin, Roy Lee, Sherman, O’Dell, and Billy - form the 'Big Creek Missile Agency' and proceed to build and launch rockets. The boys name their rockets Auk, after the extinct flightless bird. Over the years, the boys launch Auk I, Auk II, Auk III.....through Auk XXXI. The first Auk doesn't get off the ground, but blows up Elsie's rose-garden fence. Still, Elsie encourages her son's hobby, telling him, "Show [your father] you can do something. Build a rocket." Conversely, Hickam Sr. strongly discourages his son's interest in rockets, and even disapproves of America joining the space race.
From left to right: Homer Jr. (Sonny), Quintin, Roy Lee, and O'Dell
Amateur Rocket
After the first rocket mishap, Homer realizes he needs to know a lot more about rocketry, and with the assistance of the high school chemistry teacher Miss Freida Riley - and several helpful mine engineers - Sonny and Quintin (perhaps the smartest member of the BCMA) slowly and incrementally learn geometry, trigonometry, calculus, differential equations, physics, rocket structure, rocket nozzle construction, rocket propulsion, fuel chemistry, and so on. Sonny comes to idolize Dr. Wernher von Braun, the German and later American aerospace engineer, who came to be seen as the father of space travel, the father of rocket science, and the father of the American lunar program.
Miss Freida Riley (chemistry teacher)
Dr. Wernher von Braun (the father of rocket science)
Needing a better launch arena than the backyard or the populated town, the BCMA builds a rocket center, called Cape Coalwood (after Cape Canaveral) on an isolated old dump site. The boys pour a cement launch pad and build a tin and timber blockhouse, to protect themselves during launches. The rocketeers raise money with paper routes and sales of ginseng root, and though Hickam Sr. seemingly disapproves of the rocket project, he (grudgingly) provides materials to the BCMA....perhaps secretly admiring his son's ambition. Still, members of the football team, including Sonny's brother Jim, regularly mock the boys of the BMCA, jeeringly calling them 'sisters' and making fun of their project.
Rocket Boys
Rocket Boys
Launch Site
Nevertheless, over time, as the Auk rockets slowly advance from rising a few feet off the ground to shooting six miles up (when the boys are high school seniors), the residents of Coalwood come to embrace the 'Rocket Boys.' Townsfolk attend the rocket launches and applaud the successes....and some football players even give grudging respect.
While the BMCA teens advance from sophomores to seniors, they also navigate adolescence. Sonny develops a huge crush on a girl named Dorothy Plunk, who likes him 'as a friend' but dates football players and college boys. Sonny learns to drive a car and is taught to open a girl's bra with one hand by his friend - would be lothario Roy Lee. Sonny attends youth dances, has his first kiss, loses his virginity to an 'older' girl, buys a bright orange suit (which is promptly returned), and even (inadvertently) gets help from a prostitute when he's stranded during a snowstorm.
In the meantime, there's trouble in Coalwood, with fears of the mine closing; mining accidents; tension between the mining company (represented by by Homer Hickam Sr.) and the employees union; resentment against Hickam Sr. for 'being too big for his britches'; layoffs; strikes; hardship; violence; death; and more. In addition, if a miner is killed on the job, his wife and children have two weeks to move out of the company house, which is a tremendous hardship for some families.
All this makes Sonny even more determined to move away from Coalwood, though Hickam Sr. continues to cherish the idea that Sonny will follow in his footsteps - perhaps becoming a mining engineer. This creates a rift between father and son that never really heals.
In time the BMCA (with Sonny as the lead representative) wins local, state, and national Science Fairs, thinking this will propel them to college and fulfilling careers.
Homer Hickam Jr. at the science fair
Things don't work out quite like this, but - in the end- we learn that all the BCMA boys were successful and one sadly died young from a heart attack. As we know, Sonny did go on to become a NASA engineer, as well as a successful author of this and other books.
Homer Hickam Jr. attended Virginia Tech in 1960 and joined the school's Corps of Cadets.
Homer Hickam Jr. in Vietnam
Homer Hickam Jr. at Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, Alabama)
This is an excellent coming of age story that encompasses many aspects of adolescence, including family relations, friendships, first love, girlfriends, heartache, hopes for the future, and more. I'm disappointed that Sonny's father was unable to reconcile with Sonny's aspirations, but happy that Sonny bonded with other 'father figures', especially the mine workers and mine engineers that encouraged him to follow his dreams. The story essentially ends with Sonny's graduation from high school, but Hickam's other books pick up the story from there.
This memoir inspired the 1999 movie 'October Sky' starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer Hickam Jr.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
July 27, 2016
Having recently read and enjoyed Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator, I decided to go back and read the first book by West Virginia coal miner’s kid turned rocket scientist and best-selling author Homer Hickam. Rocket Boys, perhaps best known as the book that inspired the movie October Sky, is a heart-warming coming-of-age memoir about a group of boys who dreamt of the future in a town that had very little future to dream about. As is often the case, the movie pales in comparison to the book, which is alive with a rich vitality that comes straight from the heart and a sense of humor that is uniquely Homer Hickam. I know this as I have recently been privileged to correspond with Homer and it has been a delightful experience.
The secret of Rocket Boys is that it isn’t really a story about boys building rockets. It is a story about relationships; relationships with friends, with teachers, with brothers, with neighbors. Most important though, it is the story of the relationship between the young Homer Hickam and his parents. Many of us know that getting along with a father who sees the worlds differently than we do is a difficult. In Rocket Boy’s Homer did a magnificent job of describing the rocky relationship between himself and his father yet still letting the reader know that the bond between the two was something unbreakable.
FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
The secret of Rocket Boys is that it isn’t really a story about boys building rockets. It is a story about relationships; relationships with friends, with teachers, with brothers, with neighbors. Most important though, it is the story of the relationship between the young Homer Hickam and his parents. Many of us know that getting along with a father who sees the worlds differently than we do is a difficult. In Rocket Boy’s Homer did a magnificent job of describing the rocky relationship between himself and his father yet still letting the reader know that the bond between the two was something unbreakable.
FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.
February 7, 2018
Coalwood held quite a childhood. The town, the neighborhood! The strong connections of shared culture and identity of work. The gossip, the dust, the pattern of days- this book takes you there.
And it also took me back to my own. A mere three years younger than Sonny here- I was doing quite the same but in other dirty and dusty air. More limestone than coal- but ever present.
This is the second reading for about 1/2 of this book. Years ago I read the first half and never finished it. And no longer remember the reason. Reading time was so much rarer then.
But this book about goals, aspirations, dreams of "what could be" is honestly true. As it was and felt.
As are the dangers and excursions and wild freedom of childhood and adolescent roaming. Within entirely different connotations for purposes too, from our present 2016. Culture was treacherous but it hadn't lost its anchors.
And it also took me back to my own. A mere three years younger than Sonny here- I was doing quite the same but in other dirty and dusty air. More limestone than coal- but ever present.
This is the second reading for about 1/2 of this book. Years ago I read the first half and never finished it. And no longer remember the reason. Reading time was so much rarer then.
But this book about goals, aspirations, dreams of "what could be" is honestly true. As it was and felt.
As are the dangers and excursions and wild freedom of childhood and adolescent roaming. Within entirely different connotations for purposes too, from our present 2016. Culture was treacherous but it hadn't lost its anchors.
October 13, 2020
Rocket Boys is Homer (Sonny) Hickam Jr.’s memoir of his life growing up in West Virginia, the son of a coal mine superintendent. In 1957, he is inspired by Sputnik to learn how to build rockets. Sonny and his friends are encouraged by their chemistry teacher. At first, they experience spectacular failures, but they persevere and eventually succeed in building increasingly sophisticated miniature rockets. The plot covers his experimentation with different forms of rocket propulsion, competition at science fairs, and relationships with his family members. This book covers his life from childhood through high school.
The memoir focuses on the author’s desire to attain a different life than his father – to get into rocket science rather than becoming a miner, as is expected. The dangers of mining are clearly portrayed by injuries and accidents that occur at the mine. His father is a key player in one of the rescues. I could have done without the awkward back-seat scenes with his high school dates. He occasionally follows rabbit trails that do not add to the storyline. I liked it but probably will not read the other books in the series. The book provides a good example of “small town boy makes good through hard work and discipline.”
The memoir focuses on the author’s desire to attain a different life than his father – to get into rocket science rather than becoming a miner, as is expected. The dangers of mining are clearly portrayed by injuries and accidents that occur at the mine. His father is a key player in one of the rescues. I could have done without the awkward back-seat scenes with his high school dates. He occasionally follows rabbit trails that do not add to the storyline. I liked it but probably will not read the other books in the series. The book provides a good example of “small town boy makes good through hard work and discipline.”
June 19, 2011
This book was fabulous. It is the type of book I will be lending to everyone. It is mostly a true story (though the author admits to taking some license) about Homer Hickam, Jr. and his rocket building club. Hickam grew up in a mining town in which the only job choice was to become a miner. His mother wanted to ensure he got out of the town and encouraged him to build rockets as a means of proving to his father that he was smart enough to go to college.
This book inspired the movie October Sky which has long been a favourite feel good movie of mine. However I think I like the book for an entirely different reason. The movie is an inspirational story of a boy overcoming the odds in order to become something that was not expected of him. While the book was about that too, it was also about a lifestyle in which children where given much greater freedoms and responsibilities.
When Hickam and his buddies decided to build a rocket they went to the corner store and bought explosive chemicals in order to make it happen. When they blew up his mother's fence her reaction was to encourage him to build more and to not blow himself up. The rocket launches were incredible dangerous especially to spectators who were repeatedly diving for cars in order to avoid being impaled by rockets. Twice he describes rockets that went out of control and ended up in the town itself, potentially deadly weapons.
The story that stands out in my mind is of Hickam and his mates riding there sleds many miles to school after a snow day was declared. He ended up getting home on his own, walking through a whiteout and suffering near frostbite before coming across a home in which he was invited. He dried off and then kept on going. On arriving home his mother and father were unperplexed, not slightly bothered that there son could almost have died.
I wonder whether the Hickam's mother was so passionate about him leaving the town that she thought it better that he die trying than have to go down into the mines.
I found this book inspirational as a parent. It reminded me that children become adults quicker than we think, and are capable of much more than our current system allows for.
This book inspired the movie October Sky which has long been a favourite feel good movie of mine. However I think I like the book for an entirely different reason. The movie is an inspirational story of a boy overcoming the odds in order to become something that was not expected of him. While the book was about that too, it was also about a lifestyle in which children where given much greater freedoms and responsibilities.
When Hickam and his buddies decided to build a rocket they went to the corner store and bought explosive chemicals in order to make it happen. When they blew up his mother's fence her reaction was to encourage him to build more and to not blow himself up. The rocket launches were incredible dangerous especially to spectators who were repeatedly diving for cars in order to avoid being impaled by rockets. Twice he describes rockets that went out of control and ended up in the town itself, potentially deadly weapons.
The story that stands out in my mind is of Hickam and his mates riding there sleds many miles to school after a snow day was declared. He ended up getting home on his own, walking through a whiteout and suffering near frostbite before coming across a home in which he was invited. He dried off and then kept on going. On arriving home his mother and father were unperplexed, not slightly bothered that there son could almost have died.
I wonder whether the Hickam's mother was so passionate about him leaving the town that she thought it better that he die trying than have to go down into the mines.
I found this book inspirational as a parent. It reminded me that children become adults quicker than we think, and are capable of much more than our current system allows for.
July 29, 2024
― “Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night. And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we built our rockets, but those were mine.”
― Homer Hickam, Jr., Rocket Boys
Rocket Boys is the fascinating memoir and inspiring story of Homer Hickam, Jr. who grew up in the coal mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia and went on to become a NASA engineer. His memoir was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. This marks the second time in recent weeks that I have read a book that inspired a movie—in this case a movie I so enjoyed, I watched it twice (the other book/movie was The Revenant).
Raised in coal country, Homer (called Sonny) was expected to follow his father into the coal mine, at least by his father. Because his father suffered from black lung disease, Homer’s mother was steadfastly opposed to this idea. However, in the summer of 1957, Homer had become fascinated by the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik and the work that Dr. Wernher von Braun was doing in Cape Canaveral. Homer and his friends Roy Lee, Sherman, O'Dell, Billy and Quentin became amateur rocket builders and called themselves the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA).
Homer’s science teacher, Miss Riley, inspired him to pursue his interests in rocket building. Using her own money, she bought him a book on rocket building. Homer learned about nozzles and fuel. As his interests grew, he was persuaded to master calculus and trigonometry so he could understand the physics of rocketry.
Initially, the boys were met with skepticism and even anger, especially from Homer’s father. Their initial attempts to launch rockets were often failures. When locals heard the rockets, they would often say “It's just those damn rocket boys!” Some of their schoolmates made fun of them. Homer’s mother simply told him, “Don’t blow yourself up.” His father wanted them to “stop this nonsense.”
Coalwood, West Virginia was an unlikely place to find amateur rocket builders, but what Homer and his friends accomplished was nothing short of amazing. When I was a boy, my brother and I toyed with some homemade rockets. I doubt that anything we built went more than fifty feet in the air. Most of them burned up on the ground. By the end of the book, these boys from coal country were launching their amateur rockets to an altitude in excess of 15,000 feet—a stunning achievement.
Homer went on to study engineering at Virginia Tech and went to work for NASA in Huntsville, Alabama. Two of his friends from the BCMA also went on to become engineers. This is an inspiring story of some young boys who overcame their environment, the resistance of many in the community, and went on to accomplish great things. Those in the community who inspired and supported them deserve accolades. The book is a testimony to that “can do” spirit that helped build this nation.
― Homer Hickam, Jr., Rocket Boys
Rocket Boys is the fascinating memoir and inspiring story of Homer Hickam, Jr. who grew up in the coal mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia and went on to become a NASA engineer. His memoir was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. This marks the second time in recent weeks that I have read a book that inspired a movie—in this case a movie I so enjoyed, I watched it twice (the other book/movie was The Revenant).
Raised in coal country, Homer (called Sonny) was expected to follow his father into the coal mine, at least by his father. Because his father suffered from black lung disease, Homer’s mother was steadfastly opposed to this idea. However, in the summer of 1957, Homer had become fascinated by the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik and the work that Dr. Wernher von Braun was doing in Cape Canaveral. Homer and his friends Roy Lee, Sherman, O'Dell, Billy and Quentin became amateur rocket builders and called themselves the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA).
Homer’s science teacher, Miss Riley, inspired him to pursue his interests in rocket building. Using her own money, she bought him a book on rocket building. Homer learned about nozzles and fuel. As his interests grew, he was persuaded to master calculus and trigonometry so he could understand the physics of rocketry.
Initially, the boys were met with skepticism and even anger, especially from Homer’s father. Their initial attempts to launch rockets were often failures. When locals heard the rockets, they would often say “It's just those damn rocket boys!” Some of their schoolmates made fun of them. Homer’s mother simply told him, “Don’t blow yourself up.” His father wanted them to “stop this nonsense.”
Coalwood, West Virginia was an unlikely place to find amateur rocket builders, but what Homer and his friends accomplished was nothing short of amazing. When I was a boy, my brother and I toyed with some homemade rockets. I doubt that anything we built went more than fifty feet in the air. Most of them burned up on the ground. By the end of the book, these boys from coal country were launching their amateur rockets to an altitude in excess of 15,000 feet—a stunning achievement.
Homer went on to study engineering at Virginia Tech and went to work for NASA in Huntsville, Alabama. Two of his friends from the BCMA also went on to become engineers. This is an inspiring story of some young boys who overcame their environment, the resistance of many in the community, and went on to accomplish great things. Those in the community who inspired and supported them deserve accolades. The book is a testimony to that “can do” spirit that helped build this nation.
January 8, 2009
Interesting that "October Sky" (the name of the movie) is an anagram of "Rocket Boys" (the name of the book - the original name anyway).
Although I was a teenager more than a decade later than Hickam was, some of the things he wrote about hit close to home. I, too, grew up in a rural area - on a dirt road in the woods of NH. I remember what it's like to lie in the dark in the middle of nowhere and watch for satellites. I and my circle of friends experimented pretty freely on our own with things like chemistry and electricity, and did things like making powder-propelled projectiles. We did not achieve Hickam's level or come anywhere near his scientific approach, but nevertheless remembering these things made me feel a connection to his tale. Whether that's important, I can't say, but I doubt it. I think everyone can empathize with a quest for intellectual independence.
One thing that struck me was how well Hickam constructed, or perhaps experienced, parallels to what the boys are doing with their rockets. This is a story of bonds that can be loosened but only to varying degrees. It's told in terms of the rockets that fight against gravity, only to return; of young people stretching their roots, only to retain them; of a mining town that has to give up its hold on its people (or vice versa). Very telling is Hickam finding a favorite poem of his father, about sending out dreams in cars that come back empty.
Way too long a note, I know..
Although I was a teenager more than a decade later than Hickam was, some of the things he wrote about hit close to home. I, too, grew up in a rural area - on a dirt road in the woods of NH. I remember what it's like to lie in the dark in the middle of nowhere and watch for satellites. I and my circle of friends experimented pretty freely on our own with things like chemistry and electricity, and did things like making powder-propelled projectiles. We did not achieve Hickam's level or come anywhere near his scientific approach, but nevertheless remembering these things made me feel a connection to his tale. Whether that's important, I can't say, but I doubt it. I think everyone can empathize with a quest for intellectual independence.
One thing that struck me was how well Hickam constructed, or perhaps experienced, parallels to what the boys are doing with their rockets. This is a story of bonds that can be loosened but only to varying degrees. It's told in terms of the rockets that fight against gravity, only to return; of young people stretching their roots, only to retain them; of a mining town that has to give up its hold on its people (or vice versa). Very telling is Hickam finding a favorite poem of his father, about sending out dreams in cars that come back empty.
Way too long a note, I know..
February 2, 2009
Loved it! The sequels are not as good as he milks the story for more and more books, but the original is fantastic. I've read this three or four times and bought the movie (October Sky). This is a great book about coming of age and relationships and meeting your goals and is great for all kids.
July 11, 2016
Quick and light. Enjoyable read. Nothing heavy about this one.
August 20, 2016
Read with child #2 for her 9th grade honors English Summer assignment.
Actually really enjoyed. Science was a bit above me, but it wasn't too tedious.
Got to have a talk with said child #2 about the brain and hormones of the average teenage boy. Fun.
Have hopes for her teacher, this book was a great choice. Lot's of great "if you want to learn it or earn it, you can if you work for it" moments without that being the obvious message.
Kindle borrow
Actually really enjoyed. Science was a bit above me, but it wasn't too tedious.
Got to have a talk with said child #2 about the brain and hormones of the average teenage boy. Fun.
Have hopes for her teacher, this book was a great choice. Lot's of great "if you want to learn it or earn it, you can if you work for it" moments without that being the obvious message.
Kindle borrow
June 30, 2016
Noticed that one of my Goodread friends is reading this and realized I had never posted it on my list. One of the best I have read largely because I enjoy coming of age stories and really identify with the time period.
November 18, 2011
If you love to read about someones life that is really boring, the person is lame and very selfish. There are tons of science related things(that the normal person doesn't care about) and it's story line needs to be flushed down the toilet. And it would have been slightly decent if there was romance. (I know that there was a little bit, but it was only four lines and no detail so I didn't count it.) So if you are some one who likes those kind of books then you are going to love "October Sky."
October 24, 2017
a modern coming-of-age classic
review to come shortly.....
review to come shortly.....
December 2, 2018
This book was not my favorite. This isn’t my favorite genre of books anyways, but one of my best friends recommended it to me, so I though I would give it a try. The book is super long- about 430 pages! I ended up skimming a majority of it.
There were some inappropriate parts, as well as a LOT of swearing- like several times per chapter.
This man is incredible though! His story is so inspiring! Even though everyone in his town worked in the mines, he defied the odds to build rockets and other amazing things!
If you’re a fan of space- give this a go, it might surprise you!
There were some inappropriate parts, as well as a LOT of swearing- like several times per chapter.
This man is incredible though! His story is so inspiring! Even though everyone in his town worked in the mines, he defied the odds to build rockets and other amazing things!
If you’re a fan of space- give this a go, it might surprise you!
May 16, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love timepieces, and the West Virginia coal town was a lovely setting, good and bad. Reminded me of how much Steinbeck integrated Salinas Valley commonly in his stories. I also liked Hickham's tendency to go on tangents that didn't move the story along - details about people in Coalwood just for the sake of it. I tend to talk/write that way. Although it's frowned upon a lot, I just love as much detail as possible
April 20, 2013
A wonderful, coming of age story of Homer Hickam and his Big Creek Missile Agency friends. I found myself captivated by his experiences, point of view and the descriptive way he captured so many youthhood relationships, from his father to his beloved cat and so many others in between. This novel was both touching and relatable, a fantastic read.
January 15, 2021
If this wasn't a true story then someone would accuse the author of stealing a Spielberg script. It has everything in terms of triumph over adversity in following your passion. Its a wonderful tale wonderfully written.
November 9, 2022
Somehow better than the movie.
(Dallas county public library, Ebook)
(Dallas county public library, Ebook)
May 6, 2021
The Rocket Boys
The writing was better than I anticipated. Interestingly enough the oft complicated relationship Homer had with his parents was actually the best part of the book - rather than shooting off rockets and the trouble that ensued. I didn’t find the relationships between the friends to be particularly well drawn either.
While I love astrophysics, I was a little disappointed in the lack of science here. But the story of this coal mining town in West Virginia during the 1950’s and its decline made this story really interesting and effective at the human level- in effect a hillbilly elegy.
Lastly, the fanatical determination of Homer’s mom to make sure neither of her sons would ever work in the coal mine like her husband was inspiring. Black lung disease is a horrible way to go.
4 stars
The writing was better than I anticipated. Interestingly enough the oft complicated relationship Homer had with his parents was actually the best part of the book - rather than shooting off rockets and the trouble that ensued. I didn’t find the relationships between the friends to be particularly well drawn either.
While I love astrophysics, I was a little disappointed in the lack of science here. But the story of this coal mining town in West Virginia during the 1950’s and its decline made this story really interesting and effective at the human level- in effect a hillbilly elegy.
Lastly, the fanatical determination of Homer’s mom to make sure neither of her sons would ever work in the coal mine like her husband was inspiring. Black lung disease is a horrible way to go.
4 stars
October 12, 2022
I already loved October Sky, so I wasn't sure if the book could live up to the standard I had in my head for it. Even better, it surpassed it. Such a great story, captivating the whole way through. I felt nostalgic about a story that isn't even mine. Reads like really good fiction, even better that it's true.
December 12, 2023
One of the best books I’ve ever read. It is a little more dense compared to what I’m used to, but I think it finds the perfect line between too light and too dense. Any lighter and it would have been hard to connect with and a really fast and unmoving read. Any denser and it would have been a long, boring read. The beginning is a little slow and boring, but once Sonny starts building rockets the pacing picks up and becomes a much faster and more interesting read. I flew through the book in 2 days most likely because I have a report due on Wednesday, but even if I didn’t have a report due, I would have gotten through this book really quickly. In short it’s a very cool book with amazingly written characters. Also tells you how to make rocket fuel which is pretty cool. 5/5
February 24, 2017
I love this book and have already recommended it to several others. I laughed and cried and learned a lot.
June 20, 2012
When in Wales recently I finished reading October Sky by Homer H Hickam, which seemed to have a certain synchronicity for me at that moment in time. The book is set in Coalwood, West Virginia, a long way from Aberdare in the valleys of South Wales where I spent my earliest years and where its unmissable cemetery is the final resting place for generations of my ancestors. Mining was the lifeblood of both Coalwood and Aberdare, and my grandfather died from the same miners' lung disease that took Homer Hickam's father. However, October Sky is also about the young Homer's fascination with rockets and his boyish indignation at the Russians who are at that time (Sputnik, 1957) winning the Space Race. He and a bunch of friends decide to set the record straight and gradually their endeavours are taken up and proudly supported by the folk of Coalwood. It is everything its reviewers claim with all the clichéd words you'd expect to find on any cover for any rites of passage tale, "Absorbing ... wonderful ... funny ... painful ... inspirational," however, for this book every one of these words is applicable and accurate.
It is a joy to read and it's not difficult to understand why it's been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird. This book has a similar sense of mood and wonderment about it as that fine American twentieth-century classic does (and yes, I still feel bitter that anyone could give T K a M one star on Amazon! Grrr!). The book October Sky was originally published in 1998 as Rocket Boys and I believe it was also made into a movie, however, not one that I've ever seen or recall hearing about.
It is a joy to read and it's not difficult to understand why it's been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird. This book has a similar sense of mood and wonderment about it as that fine American twentieth-century classic does (and yes, I still feel bitter that anyone could give T K a M one star on Amazon! Grrr!). The book October Sky was originally published in 1998 as Rocket Boys and I believe it was also made into a movie, however, not one that I've ever seen or recall hearing about.
October 13, 2021
This is one of the books that reminds me why I love being in a book club - it forces me to read books I would never have selected to read or even become aware of.
I was fairly certain I would not like this book, and I read the first chapter with a negative predisposition toward it, just to decide whether I would actually read it. About ten chapters later, I realized I could not have been more wrong. I was absolutely hooked and I never looked back.
It's one of the best, most inspiring stories I've ever read. It is close to perfection as a memoir; writing so good that you don't even notice it; a great story; a lot of depth of interpersonal relationships; extremely appealing characters; a difficult father-son relationship with a believable and satisfying resolution; a teacher who believes in her students and stands by them at all costs. A story of tenacity, of teamwork, of rising above circumstances and background, of refusing to accept the limits imposed by one's environment of origin. Simply put, a wonderful story almost too good for words. It defies description. It is a MUST-READ!
PS - The movie based on the book is called October Sky. It's not bad, but it misses a lot of the undercurrents that make the book so great. See the movie but only if you promise not to "pass" on the book!
I was fairly certain I would not like this book, and I read the first chapter with a negative predisposition toward it, just to decide whether I would actually read it. About ten chapters later, I realized I could not have been more wrong. I was absolutely hooked and I never looked back.
It's one of the best, most inspiring stories I've ever read. It is close to perfection as a memoir; writing so good that you don't even notice it; a great story; a lot of depth of interpersonal relationships; extremely appealing characters; a difficult father-son relationship with a believable and satisfying resolution; a teacher who believes in her students and stands by them at all costs. A story of tenacity, of teamwork, of rising above circumstances and background, of refusing to accept the limits imposed by one's environment of origin. Simply put, a wonderful story almost too good for words. It defies description. It is a MUST-READ!
PS - The movie based on the book is called October Sky. It's not bad, but it misses a lot of the undercurrents that make the book so great. See the movie but only if you promise not to "pass" on the book!
July 9, 2019
Homer Hickam mirrors the struggles and triumphs of his band of rocket engineers/high school buddies (Big Creek Missile Agency) with those of the coal mine that dominates his small hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia. With the launch of Sputnik by the Russians, Hickam dreams of working at Cape Canaveral and sending American rockets and astronauts into space. After countless failed rockets and several threats of being forced to disband and discontinue their efforts, Hickam and his friends are able to break the conventional bonds of Coalwood, WV and succeed in their efforts to send rockets into space. Filled with personal stories, both light-hearted/comical and deeply emotional, Hickam captures his readers and shows them what his life was like, particularly during the turbulent times of the late 1950s and 1960s, a time when his coal town was floundering as his dreams were just beginning to take flight.
September 1, 2014
I personally enjoy reading memoirs because it's not an autobiography that's like "hey here's some general stuff about me" but rather a personal interpretation of the most important time of a person's life. And who's to know if it's hyperbole, opinion, or straight fact? No one, but it's always told the way it should be. That's the vibe I got from October Sky. I can imagine Homer Hickam sitting somewhere trying to come up with the best way to describe the dread he felt towards working in the mine, the resentment he held toward his brother, the reverence he had for Miss Riley, and the intense effort that went into creating the rocket(s). He should be very proud of the final copy he created, and I must say, I'm fascinated by the story he retold. This is the true American tale of passion, intelligence, and just a bit of rebellion that makes for the ultimate (true) story. I highly recommend it to all lovers of science, memoirs, and feel good endings.
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