by Homer H. Hickam, Jr.
In 1957 the harsh mining town of Coalwood, W. Virginia presented
few options for a boy who'd rather build rockets than play football.
Reviewed by: A.F. Morrow
About A.F. Morrow
October Sky, originally published as Rocket Boys, is the story of NASA engineer
Homer H. Hickam Jr's teen years in Coalwood, W. Virginia. In 1957, Coalwood was
on the verge of financial disaster and America's imagination was captivated by
the flight of the Russian-launched Sputnik. The Rocket Boys, as the town
eventually came to call them, began their bid to join the space race by emptying
the powder from 12 cherry bombs into an empty flashlight casing. Several
iterations later, they were calculating sophisticated flight arcs and drawing
crowds at their rocket launches. Between launches, Hickam depicts Coalwood life:
the sadness when his science teacher and mentor falls ill, the brutal poverty
and danger of coal mining, the tension caused by the coal mine labor union
disputes, and the classic father-son clash in his own family.
Not all of the Rocket Boys were gifted science and math students, nor did they
have money for fancy rocket kits or custom parts. It's the sheer ingenuity and
bravado of their efforts that makes this book so endearing. As Homer and the
Rocket Boys reach their goal of competing in a regional Science Fair, they
receive help and support from several unlikely sources in cash-strapped
Coalwood, and you'll be reading with a lump in your throat.
Hickam doesn't sugar coat anything, but the innocence of pre-Vietnam war America
shines through his prose as a poignant reminder of how much this country has
changed in the last fifty years. This book should be required reading for all
ages, especially teens who don't remember LBV (life before video games).
Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: October Sky
Copyright © by A.F. Morrow, 2002
Reviewed by A.F. Morrow:
-- Fall on Your Knees - by Ann-Marie Macdonald
-- October Sky, originally published as Rocket Boys - by Homer H. Hickam, Jr.
-- I Know This Much Is True - by Wally Lamb
-- Mrs. Dalloway - by Virginia Woolf
-- My Dream of You - by Nuala O'Faolain
Home
-------
All the Reviews