| ||||||||||||||||||||||
MALL.ShopperFavorites.com
Best Prices
Shopper Favorites Web Search |
Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1) |
by: Homer Hickam
List Price: $14.00
Prices subject to change.
Amazon.com's Price: $11.20
You Save: $2.80 (20%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Compare Prices: | ||
| $8.71 | Buy at Buy.com | |
| $9.83 | Buy at eCampus | |
| $9.99 | Buy at BestPrices.com | |
| $10.75 | Buy at Walmart | |
Track Prices via RSS: | ||
| +XML +My Yahoo +My MSN +Rojo +Newsgator +Bloglines +Pluck | ||
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 629.1092273
EAN: 9780385333214
ISBN: 0385333218
Label: Delta
Manufacturer: Delta
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: January 11, 2000
Publisher: Delta
Release Date: January 11, 2000
Studio: Delta
Alternate Versions:
- October Sky (Special Edition)
- The Coalwood Way (The Coalwood Series #2)
- Sky of Stone: A Memoir
- We Are Not Afraid: Strength and Courage from the Town That Inspired the #1 Bestseller and Award-Winning Movie "October Sky"
- Back to the Moon: A Novel
- see more
- Books > Specialty Stores > Custom Stores > Book Clubs > Biographies & Memoirs
- Books > Specialty Stores > Custom Stores > Qualifying Textbooks > General AAS
- Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States > General
- Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States > General AAS
- Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Inspired by Werner von Braun and his Cape Canaveral team, 14-year-old Homer Hickam decided in 1957 to build his own rockets. They were his ticket out of Coalwood, West Virginia, a mining town that everyone knew was dying--everyone except Sonny's father, the mine superintendent and a company man so dedicated that his family rarely saw him. Hickam's smart, iconoclastic mother wanted her son to become something more than a miner and, along with a female science teacher, encouraged the efforts of his grandiosely named Big Creek Missile Agency. He grew up to be a NASA engineer and his memoir of the bumpy ride toward a gold medal at the National Science Fair in 1960--an unprecedented honor for a miner's kid--is rich in humor as well as warm sentiment. Hickam vividly evokes a world of close communal ties in which a storekeeper who sold him saltpeter warned, "Listen, rocket boy. This stuff can blow you to kingdom come." Hickam is candid about the deep disagreements and tensions in his parents' marriage, even as he movingly depicts their quiet loyalty to each other. The portrait of his ultimately successful campaign to win his aloof father's respect is equally affecting. --Wendy Smith
Product Description:
The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that inspired the film October Sky, Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir--a powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the dawn of the 1960s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, of a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outer space . . . and who made those dreams come true.
With the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickam paints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia mining town of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, when anything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed its men alive. A story of romance and loss, of growing up and getting out, Homer Hickam's lush, lyrical memoir is a chronicle of triumph--at once exquisitely written and marvelously entertaining.
Now with 8 pages of photographs.
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- A fun up-beat read, but nothing fabulousI give this book two stars mostly based on personal taste. It is a fun read, and has an up-beat tone that leaves you feeling pretty good about people and the world. Unfortunately, though, there just isn't much to it. The scenery, characters and story telling are a banal mix of Hickham's strung-together memories and a big rusty can of Americana. There isn't anything very ambitious or exciting about it; Rocket Boys is simple, straight-forward, and decently entertaining. If it were a food, it would ... Read More
Rating:
- Highly Entertaining Read.I enjoyed this true life story so much I bought a copy for our grand children. It is inspirational, I would like to see it on the reading list for middle schools everywhere. When young people are motivated, encouraged and supported, they can and many times will do amazing things. To struggle through some difficult circumstances, have some expected support and some un-expected opposition and to achieve their goals was a great story. The relationship between Homer and his father will be related to by ... Read More
Rating:
- If you were born in the 40sIf you were born in the 40s as I was, in New York, reading this book will take you back to the time you 'heard' about the coaltowns in West Virginia. This story will match your memories ... not to mention your memories of the era it represents. I LOVED it!
Rating:
- escape via rocketescape via rocket, October 6, 2008
By V. N. Dvornychenko (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews
Part "Angela's Ashes" (Frank McCourt) and part "I Aim for the Stars" (Werner von Braun), this book chronicles the efforts of a teenage boy to escape the confines of his West Virginia coal-mining milieu. Fourteen-year-old Homer/Sonny Hickam (the protagonist and author) is determined not to follow in the footsteps of his coalminer father - who is already showing signs of black ... Read More
Rating:
- Charming and inspirationalLoved this book. Was on the last chapter when I threw October Sky into my Netflix queue; Hoping I'd have it in hand when the book was finished. Timing was perfect. As usual, the book eclipses the movie, but both are great. Passing it onto my 10 year old son who already has aspirations of going into the sciences. Enjoy!
MALL.ShopperFavorites.com
|