Rocket Boys

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Summary: A wonderful memoir! Rocket Boys made the right stuff!
Review: Praise to Homer Hickam, Jr. and his rocket boys! It kept me reading with keen interests and wonder how they did successfully in despite of coal mining management-union disputes and a lack of knowledge in rocket engineering. It is also a rich blend of local history of Coalwood, the vivid description of coal mines, and the gradual development of building rockets. A perfect gift for science enthusiasts as well as dream seekers. Bravo, Rocket Boys!

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Summary: Non stop read
Review: I could not put the book down. As an engineer I read with them as they tried to understand the principles of rocket design but the emotion of a dying town and how the real people all were involved with the project was amzing.

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Summary: A fantasic story, will remind many of their youth and...
Review: inspire them to reach for the stars. This is a book all wish they could write about their life. It brings back the flavor of a nonexistent time and place better than any other memoir. Only Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" is comparable, but that was more composite than fact. Definitly a book for everyone. Read the book and then see the film, or vice versa. The film does a fairly good job in adapting the book and makes you want to go see it again.

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Summary: Finished it at 4 this morning! Haven't done that in years.
Review: As one closely associated with education in West Virginia this really hit home. If it wasn't accurate in every detail...who cares!? The story is true a thousand times over with other kids, other dreams, other small towns.

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Summary: WOW!
Review: This is THE BEST book I have read in a long time. It is not often that I read books. So if a book does not strike my interest, it goes unread. Just by reading the first paragraph of this book I knew I would finish it. The story shows just how much courage it takes to dare to be different, even when your own father is against you, and that anything can be done, all you have to do is work for it. This book sparked my attention, and kept me abosrbed the whole way through. I lost many an hour of sleep because this book is just so captivating. Anyone reading this, and considering to buy it, stop, don't think, just order it!

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Summary: A compelling and inspiring book. . .
Review: I am a 13 years old, and after seeing the movie "October Sky", I instantly fell in love with the story. 14 year old Homer "Sonny" Hickman, (son of a superintendant of a mine)was inspired to build a rocket, after hearing and seeing Sputnik. Breaking the mold of his father's dreams, of becoming a miner, Homer is determined to do something with his life. He and his friends make a club dedicated to rockets. Using adavanced books, with complicated math, Homer and his pals are able to do so. Their club takes them above and beyond of what they and their old mine town could imagine. . .

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Summary: It takes you home
Review: This book has a special meaning to me. I graduated from Big Creek High School, that is the main reason I bought the book to read. When I started, the memories of that time in my life come back strong. The book is more than that, you didn't have to be from the area to relate to this story. The descriptions given about McDowell County and Big Creek High School was the "real thing". After reading the book, I couldn't wait for the movie to be released, as of this date I've seen the movie 2 times. The first I took 2 of my grandchildren, the older being my 7 year old grandson who, to my surprise, watch the entire movie and stayed interested not only with the boys being protrayed but the goals that they had for themselves. After watching the movie he turned and said "I can be anything I want to be".

In closing, the only thing I can say is it would not have mattered if I wasn't from the area, it is a great book, a story to encourage people of all ages that dreaming is OK, and never give up on your goals.

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Summary: The Amarican Dream is Alive
Review: I thought the movie(October Sky) based on the book was very good, but it pales compared to the book. The movie is a snack; the book is a meal. It was so good I had trouble putting it down and finished it in a day.

A book as good as Rocket Boys is rare. It shows life as it really is: a bittersweet adventure driven by decisions, and the subsequent actions, that reflect the characters of the people who make them. It pulls you into the life of a teen-aged boy, Homer Hickam, in a West Virginia coal town, into his family, into the town itself, until you can see its grime in the midst of green mountains, smell the coal dust, and hear the crashing of coal trains echoing from the mountains. News of Sputnik I and the experience of seeing it pass overhead changes Homer's life - he decides he wants to be up there, be part of space exploration, and then he has the audacity to decide that he's going to build rockets. A miner's son, who will most likely become a miner, living in a coal town in the middle of a wilderness, decides to build rockets. If that doesn't capture your imagination, nothing will. But the story isn't about rockets, it's about people and their struggles in life, about the importance of values, about the American dream. I was as inspired and encouraged by the America of the Rocket Boys as I am saddened and disappointed by the America of present day Washington, D.C.

Buy to book, see the movie, buy the video when it comes out. They'll make your spirits soar like Homer's rockets.

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Summary: Read the first paragraph and then try to put the book down.
Review: To teach one's kids to look within themselves for their own unique sparks and to develop them into the flames that propel their desires to triumph over any adversity--that's the beautifully told story of "Rocket Boys". In my 8th grade school year, which ended with the presentation of my science project at the county science fair, I taught myself from a book to build radios. I learned to solder wires, learned the difference between a resistor and a transistor and how to use them, and most importantly I learned the joy of discovering truths about my abilities and desires. My father and mother helped me scrounge parts and provided me with tools and encouragement. Later I learned from my father that I'd lost a close first place win because one of the judges simply had assumed I'd had lots of help from my parents in actually designing and building the radios. Although devestated at the time, I eventually learned, as did Homer with his early rockets, that you can prosper from the failures as well as the successes. Read this book to reaffirm this message for yourself, and read it to your kids so they may soar on their own high and graceful arcs in life.

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Summary: Masterfully evokes the feel of small mining town
Review: I would have given this book 5 stars except for one minor thing that probably bugged only me. Late in the book, after I was completely engaged in the rocket boys quest, there is a scene where Homer is shopping for new clothes to wear to the National Science Fair in Indianapolis. While in town, he supposedly sees Jack Kennedy, who is campaigning in the West Virginia primary. Kennedy is giving a speech stating in general terms his commitment to get the country moving boldly forward. As I recall, the book has Homer, the 14 year old, yelling out from the crowd, "Let's go to the moon" or something like that. And then Kennedy picks up on it and says, that's right, that's something we ought to do. So we have Homer inspiring Jack to have the idea to expand the space program.

I just couldn't buy this, and it started me thinking that a lot of other stuff in the book was just made up too. This made me feel a little deceived, since a big part of the book's impact comes from the fact that it's supposed to be true.