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Summary: What was it like to be a teenager when sputnik happened?
Review: To answer the question -- for some of us it was just like what is described in this book, especially the first third of it. He captures the mood of the time precisely. The book filled me with tears and nostalgia. ... Until about the halfway point, and then the plot seemed to become simply a really good coming of age story. Part of me eventually just could not stop wondering about how many liberties Homer Hickam took with the literal truth. For this is a memoir, and I was once a rocket boy from the West Texas oil patch, and the details still matter to me 39 years later. Even so, I loved the book and I thank Homer for writing it.
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Summary: A fascinating & nostalgic read, impossible to put down.
Review: In the first 24 hours after starting this book, I read it cover-to-cover twice. It's that good.Part of it is identification with Homer -- although I grew up in the 1970s instead of the 1950s, we read the same science fiction and had many of the same friends and relatives. My fascination with computers was echoed in the BCMA's obsessive rocketry. This book should be on the must-read list in high schools around the country.
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Summary: a story about overcoming adversities
Review: this book is the best one i've read about the situation in appalachia before the great welfare state. the characters in the book are hard working and honest people who out of necessity had to pull together under adverse situations in a l950's coal mining town. the character and quility of the people shines throughout the book. a very readable story with some new insights into life in a southern west virginia coal town
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Summary: Excellent! Wonderful story of life's decisions growing up.
Review: This is a "can't-put-it-down" delight! In a book with no pictures, Hickam "paints" fantastic word pictures of the little mining town and the surrounding mountains. Growing up in a situation where his fate seemed predetermined, Hickam had the courage to be different and follow his dreams. Having grown up in a similar situation in West Virginia, my father, grandfather, and several uncles worked for gas drilling companies, and I even worked one summer for the company from which they retired. I experienced many parallels with his life, including a childhood love of model rocketry and Robert Heinlein's science fiction novels, an engineering degree, and an engineering career outside West Virginia. Hickam develops the characters from his youth such that the reader feels he has met them personally. The supportive science teacher who patiently prods him, the stern and skeptical principal who eventually becomes one of his supporters, the supportive mother, the aloof father who supports Hickam's dreams secretly but fears they can never be realized and will ultimately lead to disappointment, the hateful older brother, the union machinists, and an eclectic cast of friends and neighbors common to a small coal town. History and socioloy buffs will enjoy the descriptions of the workings of a "company town". Hickam's insights into the exploitation of the town's residents by the "Yankee" owners and the union/company struggles are enlightening to anyone not familiar with that period. In all a very good read.
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Summary: A great book
Review: What can I say, it's so much like me, whenever I would get an rocket my next door neighbor and I would modify it, launch it and in the end it would usualy blow up and rattle the windows. Then our parents would always come out and say the same thing, "MIKE, INSIDE, NOW!" Id be grounded for a while but it was worth it, the book for me brought back a lot of memories and was a lot of fun to read!
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Summary: Inspirational!!!!
Review: Having grownup on the Virginia side of Homer Hickam's world, it was very easy for me to see his world and life. I have a 8 year old son who is going to be reading this book as soon as he is capable, because in our world as it is now, stories that inspire are rare. In today's world, books that can show that hardships and obstacles are not reasons to give up or give in are rare. This is a book that can show anyone and everyone that life is what you make out of it; not what you are given, but what you take from it. It was an absolute joy to read. Mr. Hickam is wonderful example of someone that was able to make more of himself than anyone could imagine. But not just that, he wants others to know that if you dare to dream, you must dare to accomplish that dream.
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Summary: Inspiring, this book will bring back warm memories.
Review: Homer's book will bring back wonderful, nostalgic memories to anyone who ever built a model rocket or has dreamed of the skies and beyond. His story is captivating and inspiring...it should be required reading in every high school science class.
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Summary: Excellent presentation of real life in the coalfields of WV
Review: This book is great reading for anyone that enjoys real life situations. It is particularly enjoyable and enterataining for people who can relate to the pressue of two dissimiliar parents who want different things for their siblings. For anyone with a knowledge of coal or of the coalfields of southern West Virginia it is a "must read". I guarantee if you have any interest in coal or the coalfields you will not put this book down until you have finished it. Even after completion you will reflect on the emotions it will bring back from your own experiences.
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Summary: The book tells of a way of life that is now non-existent.
Review: I grew up in Coalwood, West Virginia. I was 9 years younger than Sonny. Even though I was younger, I can remember hearing of his exploits over the supper table. My dad was a salaried person also, and the difference made then between union and salary was enormous. I laughed and cried many times thorough the book. There were times that I laughed so loud that my husband came and checked on me. The book is wonderful. Sonny makes every one feel as if they're right there in Coalwood. It was great to go back and relive my childhood. Congrats Sonny, you did it. Not only for yourself but for everyone. Your dad would have been proud.
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Summary: A coalminer's son takes a rocket trip away from the mines...
Review: This really is a "couldn't put it down" book.. It kept me up late two nights to complete it. Sonny Hickam wanted to learn how to launch rockets and, eventually, work for the space program. He did both. Many of us who grew up in poor Appalacian communities can relate to Sonny's high school days. We all were looking for a "ticket" to the outside. For Sonny, it was his rocket dreams and he was able to follow them to fruition..A great memoir and a beautiful story.........
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