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Title details for Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam - Available

Rocket Boys

A Memoir

by Homer Hickam
Beau Bridges
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children, and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives....And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we built our rockets, but those were mine.
So begins Homer "Sonny" Hickam, Jr.'s extraordinary memoir of life in Coalwood, West Virginia — a hardscrabble little company town where the only things that mattered were coal mining and high-school football. The son of the mine's superintendent and a mother determined to push her son to a better life, Sonny fell in with a group of misfits for whom the future looked uncertain. But in 1957, after watching the Soviet Satellite Sputnik streak across the sky, Sonny and his teenage friends took their future into their own hands, changing their lives and their town forever.
Looking back after a distinguished NASA career that fulfilled his boyhood ambition, Hickam shares the story of his youth, taking listeners into the life of the little mining town and the boys who came to embody both its tensions and its dreams. With the help — and sometimes hindrance — of the people of Coalwood, the Rocket Boys learn not only how to turn mine scraps into rockets that soar miles into the heavens, but how to find hope in a town that progress is passing by.
In this uniquely American memoir, Homer Hickam beautifully captures a moment when a dying town, a divided family, and a band of teenage dreamers dared to set their sights on the stars — and saw a future that the nation was just beginning to imagine.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    November 1, 1998

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780743548489
      • File size: 129196 KB
      • Duration: 04:29:09

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Beau Bridges's boyish persona makes him the ideal narrator for Rocket Boys, the supposedly true story of the author's boyhood. A distinguished NASA rocket scientist, Hickam grew up in a mining town where, with his mother's encouragement, he developed a fascination with rockets and organized the "rocket boys" out of a group of misfits. The excellent abridgment is the work of Jesse Boggs, a fine audio producer and singer/songwriter. The tone reminds one of Young Tom Edison and one can easily picture Mickey Rooney and big indoor MGM sets representing a West Virginia coal town. Bridges makes the most out of the well-orchestrated corn and makes it (almost) credible, partly through his personal investment in the tale and partly through the sympathetic magic of his personality. The supposed truth of the events becomes irrelevant as he catches the listener up in a warm, engaging story. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      NASA engineer Homer Hickam recalls how building rockets in the wake of the Soviet launching of Sputnik changed his life. Tom Stechschulte reads with a nostalgic tone and a hint of West Virginia accent, delivering the details of life in a coal town in a voice that reflects the author's humor, fondness for the people and events of the story, and youthful na•veté. Stechschulte's voice also excels in the dramatic moments, such as the mine tragedy and Homer's father's illness. Stechschulte even accomplishes the rare task of making the process of learning calculus sound exciting. As Hickam recounts how his rocketry goals fueled a passion for learning and brought his town together, his story has lessons for kids and parents alike. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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