Reviews for Rocket Boys: A Memoir

The average rating for Rocket Boys: A Memoir based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-06-30 00:00:00 Michael Reardon I just spent the last 3 days in Coalwood, WV, and would have stayed longer, but turned the last page of this wonderful book. What a great story of growing up, coping with difficulties, ambition, family disappointments, friends, teachers; in short, the things that made Homer Hickam, Jr. the man he is today. There was a lot of nostalgia in this book for me. I grew up in Catsburg, NC, a tobacco farming community instead of a coal mining town. It was a time when we children pretty much ran free through the yards, woods and fields, only expected to be around when supper was ready, and not to embarrass our parents in the meantime. No cell phones or computers, handling our own problems, making our own fun. We grew up just fine. Homer and the Rocket Boys had that kind of freedom. They formed a club , The BCMA (Big Creek Missile Agency) to learn to shoot off rockets after being inspired by Sputnik. Their curiosity and enthusiasm took on a life of it's own. The high school teachers and townspeople did what they could to help. The project brought a community together, won a national science fair, and showed six boys from coal mining families that there was a different future for them after all. The hard work and persistence of those boys is awe-inspiring to me. In this age of "just Google it", to think that these guys had to teach themselves calculus to get their rockets into the air; had to rely on trial and error to find the right propellant; had to find the money and time to put it all together, at the same time navigating poverty, adolescent love, schoolwork, and family situations; it leaves me speechless. This book is required reading for 9th graders in my town, and now I see why. I just hope a few of them can take inspiration from the themes of hard work and never say die attitude on these pages. A big thanks to Homer Hickam, Jr. for sharing his story and his town with us.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-05-11 00:00:00 Joseph Schillinger If there is one, just ONE thing that was monumentally historic in this book, a revealing glimpse into our culture's rich history and sociological mindset, it had nothing to do with rockets. DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE, THAT FIFTY YEARS AGO, PEOPLE WERE HOOKING UP IN BAND BUSES!? Holy mother of french horns, it's ingrained in our history. I'm not talking to you, ex-cheerleaders belonging to the "'Twilight' fanclubs", you emo english lit majors arguing over poe. You couldn't understand. Only a certain type of person--- a special combination of musicianship, athleticism and geekiness, if you will--- will truly comprehend the depth of connection I felt after reading Homer's elation at having Dorothy Plunk drift off to sleep on his shoulder while the bus plowed through West Virginia backcountry. That beautiful contentedness with the world, that feeling of satisfaction at the day's performance, the wind whipping through your hair, cuddled up for warmth with half the trumpet section as your dirty, poorly maintained and diesel belching bus careens through the night at the hands of some ill-trained and half asleep band booster. *sigh* I mean, serious relationships all over this country have been SOLD on late night band bus trips. Marriages made. Babies born (after the marriages, i mean. we're not cheerleaders, afterall). I'm willing to bet that thousand of American teenagers would never have logged thousands of solid make-out practice hours without this type of magical transportation.I just never guessed it had been around for so long. It's like discovering your great ancestors also signed in at the gym just to get a smoothie so their account would show they came more than three times a week and were actually using their membership. anyway, i digress. solid book. can't beat the style of writing, it may be slow, but it matches his personality so completely you know it must be genuine. and somehow, for it, the pay off in the end is greater--- i was heartbroken to read the epilogue about dorothy, that she was even the first part of it at all. homer, i really liked you, man. you should have known, the woodwinds can be a bitch. because i feel like we're friends, and it's never too late for a rocket scientist (you charmer!) ... you can NEVER go wrong with a percussionist.