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Summary: Science in the Hollers
Review: Rocket Boys is about dreams, family, personal accomplishment and some cool science all set in the coal mining town of Coalwood, in the hollows of sw WV. Sputnik was launched in Oct of 1957 and changed science in this country through our fright of being left behind. Inspired by Spuknik's flight, Sonny Hickam gets the notion to build rockets and his success depends on a raft of collaborators and detractors that are so vividly detailed you want to meet each one. The story is also about real family interactions. Sonny's Dad, Homer Sr. loves mining and his sons, and can't comprehend that his youngest son, Sonny, does share his Dad's dreams. The book is inspiring and should be mandatory reading for all high school students. The clear downside of reading Rocket Boys is that you may be compelled to drove to this magic town of Coalwood, which for me involved an 800 mile round trip. And I look forward to a re visit.
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Summary: Should be required reading for teens
Review: I borrowed the local library's copy of this book and upon finishing, I immediately bought a copy for my son and told him to read it! Besides being an enjoyable story with engaging characters, it is truly inspirational - kids everywhere need to have this message delivered loud and clear. Your endings may not always come out like the Rocket Boys', but it proves that hard work and big dreams can pay off for those who want it bad enough. The best book I've read so far this year.
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Summary: Quick, easy, inspiring, and a joy to read...
Review: ...Rocket Boys is simply one of the better memoirs available. I picked this book up late one evening, and didn't put it down again until I turned the final page a couple of hours later. It's that good. You'll marvel at the ingenuity of the young author and his buddies as they enter the space age from deep in the hills of West Virginia mining country. You'll be inspired by the author's climb, from obscurity and the sentence of a miner's life, to the very heights of the American space program. Give this book to your favorite young person, or, for that matter, anyone you love.
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Summary: what a gift!
Review: I just finished reading Rocket Boys and I am in severe withdrawl already. What a life experience! This book is about so many things. First of all it is about the undefeatable nature of humans. Secondly it is a sheer joyous lesson in the power of learning. I want so much for every high school student to read this and see exactly what pleasure and joy and rewards may come from a book. These young men changed their lives because of the power they found in learning. The third thing that i loved about this book is its unique look at what it was like to be labeled a "geek" My brother was a high school student in the sixties. He was an extremly gifted young man and he was ridiculed daily. Oh how i wish he had known the rocket boys. So for ex-geeks (now wealthy and happy) everywhere I thank you Homer for giving this gift. I will give it to my brother for Christmas with a better understanding of him. I'm sure he will find delight in the spirit of the rocket boys. He was, and didn't know it, one himself.
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Summary: I LOVED this book
Review: What a great book! The story is excellent and brings back memories of my childhood (although that was 15 years later and not in a coal town) - what friends can do together while journeying through their high school years. It's about dreams, dedication, and imagination, which have to persevere against the decay of the mines and stagnant ideas of Homer's father. It reads very well, and I can't recall any parts that dragged. Simply put, probably the best thing I've read in over 10 years.
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Summary: great!!
Review: This a touching story of what the average joe can acomplish. The movie was not half the story and when you read this book you wikk fell like you are part of the space race from a home town aspect. Loved it and hope to read another as good!
Rating: 
Summary: Coal Miners' Look at the Stars
Review: Enjoyed the book, a gift, much more than I thought I would. The story of the boys perseverance was inspirational to be sure - with all the pizzazz that goes with 'rocket science'. But most of all I enjoyed the detailed description of life in a coal mining town - a company town - where the mine, store, homes and meeting hall were all owned by the company that employed all the inhabitants. And just as inspirational as the boys success was the help and encouragement of the teachers and miner/neighbors who cheered and aided their success with the goal of sending them on to a life where they wouldn't need to work in the mines. The movie, incidentally, took fictional liberties with the story to the point of distraction. Nothing compares with the inspiration of this story made more exciting because it's true.
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Summary: Hickam's Hope Soars High
Review: In watching the film, one feels compelled to read the actual text. Hickam's first person account of his childhood as a priveleged coal miner's son (his father was the mine superintendent) is full of rich detail and childhood memory. It is Hickam's achievement, though, that shines through in the novel. The novel presents the following conflicts: a poor community, the ineviatble future of mining and lungs full of dust, school administartors that condone the status quo, father/son disagreement, and sibling rivalry. Each conflict is present and resolved in some way, although some ways tend to be dissatisfying for the reader. Hickam does not pretend to write with flair and prosodic expertise, but he writes with sincere truth and heartfelt courage, a style that proves more merit. Characters are clear in the novel. Homer's father, for example, is created as an heroic, dedicated individual -- his dedication is to the mine, however. Although Hickam may not create the scenery of Thoreau or the characters of Conroy and King, he manages to write a uniquely inspiring story about boys with a seemingly unattainable dream. It is the finale that creates the magic of a thousand launching rockets in the reader's heart. The movie's aim and purpose, although enjoyable, are much different than the novel.
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Summary: 5 stars minus .5 for bein a little too science-nerdy = 4.5
Review: This is one of those books that even I, a person who takes weeks to finish a book, read in three days.Told from a teenage boy's point-of-view, it is a story about growing up, noticing the adult life and maturing, as well as fighting for what you enjoy doing. It shows that TRY is NOT a 3-letter word for FAILURE. It will enchant the readers with the childhood dreams of Homer Hickham, in which he wants to be a rocket scientist. It shows how big of a deal it was to watch Sputnik and the other satellites shoot into space, and how the boys wanted to become a part of this new field. For people like me, who have always taken space travel, satellites, cable television, and air-conditioners for granted, it also shows a small part of history. This book will make the Wall Street Brokers want to jump out of their suits and the students to throw in their books in hamster cages (so that they can shred it) so that they can begin fulfilling their dreams. For those who think that non-fiction is always completely historical or scientific and boring... This book would prove you wrong! I can be a fiction novel, and would still be a bestseller. But what makes it TRULY and COMPLETELY exciting and fulfilling is that it is REAL. If you're one of those who have failed science and physics and calculus in high school... This book is not only about building rockets and it is not completely (yet some parts were perhaps a little too scientific for me, a 17year old) about rocket details. Its about love and dreams - something we ALL know about.
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Summary: An amazing life you'll never forget!
Review: I admit, I didn't pick up this book until after I had seen the fabulous movie about Homer Hickam's life. The film struck me in a way that left me in awe of this man's childhood, and the book astounded me! I had never been a fan of biographies until I was compelled to buy the book, and I didn't put it down once the whole time I was reading it. I was captivated by the life and motivation one boy had, and how he grew into a man who could face his challenges and follow his dreams. This inspirational story is about a young man, Homer Hickam, or Sonny, as he is called by his parents and closest friends, who grew up in a small coal mining town in West Virginia. When he first heard about Sputnik, the Russian satellite, he was motivated to create his own model rockets along with his 4 best friends; Sherman, O'Dell, Roy Lee, and Quentin, forming their own Rocket Boys society, setting off their model rockets under the eyes of the towns people, and the strict figure of his father, a hardy coal foreman in the mine. He is pressure from both sides on his future career until he goes to Indianapolis (my home city) to the national science fair, and...I won't spoil it for those that don't know, and finally going on to become an employee with NASA, his dream acheived. This book opened me up to a new world I had never seen. A person who acheived his final goals, with little help from the adults most kids rely on. This really is an inspiration, and I suggest you read it, to see what an amzing story I'm talking about!
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