ashn2k Bác học Rocket Boys: A Memoir - (Coalwood #1) By Homer Hickam 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. Rocket Boys - A Review Summary: Reviews the book Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam. Explains why it is a well written novel and discusses how it applies to modern society. I was lucky enough to be assigned Rocket Boys, a non-fiction novel written by Homer Hickam, Jr., as my summer reading. It is about a group of boys who live in the coal-mining town of Coalwood. They are inspired by events in Russia and the United States involving the space program. The boys all attend high school and have known each other since they were kids. They attempt to build rockets and run into trouble along the way. Whether it is a lack of money, an erosion problem with the nozzle, or injury, the "Rocket Boys" always accomplish their goals through hard work and perseverance. Rocket Boys is a very well written novel. I thought the story was very interesting as it applies to society today. It teaches people to never give up and if you keep on trying you will eventually succeed. I hope people who read this book are as inspired as I am to try harder after reading how this group of students from a small coal-mining town could beat the odds and eventually go on to win first place at the National Science Fair, even though they were not rich and were unable to afford the best materials for the project. This book is very inspiring and it helped me to bring my determination to a new level. I would definitely recommend Rocket Boys to anyone looking for a good book to read. I never wanted to put the book down. I was always feeling an emotion whether it was suspense, anger, or sadness. I like how he wrote it from different perspectives at certain times. For example, he wrote most of the book from his own perspective but he wrote what Roy Lee was thinking when Sonny cut his wrist digging up the iron pipes beneath the train tracks to earn money for their propellant. In the book Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam teaches us to "Aim High!" Mình cũng chưa đọc, mới chỉ xem phim chuyển thể từ cuốn tự truyện của tác giả October Sky, nhưng thấy phim đã gây được cảm xúc sâu sắc như vậy thì chắc chắn tự truyện không thể kém. Chưa chuyển sang dạng prc được nên post tạm link file pdf hơi to tí. Vui lòng đăng nhập hoặc đăng ký để xem link Vui lòng đăng nhập hoặc đăng ký để xem link
Homer Hickam Winner of the prestigious University of Alabama's Clarence Cason Award and the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award for his memoirs and fiction plus many other writing awards including an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Marshall University, Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) is probably best known for his # 1 New York Times best-selling memoir Rocket Boys which was adapted into the ever-popular movie October Sky. He also has legions of fans for his "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction series. Mr. Hickam has been a coal miner, Vietnam combat veteran, scuba instructor, NASA engineer, and now a best-selling author. For more information, please go to Vui lòng đăng nhập hoặc đăng ký để xem link. *** The Coalwood Way (Coalwood #2) by Homer Hickam It's fall, 1959, and Homer "Sonny" Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys are in their senior year at Big Creek High, launching handbuilt rockets that soar thousands of feet into the West Virginia sky. But in a season traditionally marked by celebrations of the spirit, Coalwood finds itself at a painful crossroads. The strains can be felt within the Hickam home, where a beleaguered HomerSr. is resorting to a daring but risky plan to keep the mine alive, and his wife Elsie is feeling increasingly isolated from both her family and the townspeople. And Sonny, despite a blossoming relationship with a local girl whose dreams are as big as his, finds his own mood repeatedly darkened by an unexplainable sadness. Eager to rally the town's spirits and make her son's final holiday season at home a memorable one, Elsie enlists Sonny and the Rocket Boys' aid in making the Coalwood Christmas Pageant the best ever. But trouble at the mine and the arrival of a beautiful young outsider threaten to tear the community apart when it most needs to come together. And when disaster strikes at home, and Elsie's beloved pet squirrel escapes under his watch, Sonny realizes that helping his town and redeeming himself in his mother's eyes may be a bigger-and more rewarding-challenge than he has ever faced. The result is pure storytelling magic- a tale of small-town parades and big-hearted preachers, the timeless love of families and unforgettable adventures of boyhood friends-that could only come from the man who brought the world Rocket Boys
Sky of Stone (Coalwood #3) by Homer Hickam Published October 29th 2002 Homer Hickam won the praise of critics and the devotion of readers with his first two memoirs set in the hardscrabble mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. The New York Times crowned his first book, the #1 national bestseller October Sky, “an eloquent evocation ... a thoroughly charming memoir.” And People called The Coalwood Way, Hickam’s follow-up toOctober Sky, “a heartwarmer ... truly beautiful and haunting.” Now Homer Hickam continues his extraordinary story with Sky of Stone, dazzling us with exquisite storytelling as he takes us back to that remarkable small town we first came to know and love in October Sky. In the summer of ‘61, Homer “Sonny” Hickam, a year of college behind him, was dreaming of sandy beaches and rocket ships. But before Sonny could reach the seaside fixer-upper where his mother was spending the summer, a telephone call sends him back to the place he thought he had escaped, the gritty coal-mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. There, Sonny’s father, the mine’s superintendent, has been accused of negligence in a man’s death—and the townspeople are in conflict over the future of the town. Sonny’s mother, Elsie, has commanded her son to spend the summer in Coalwood to support his father. But within hours, Sonny realizes two things: His father, always cool and distant with his second son, doesn’t want him there ... and his parents’ marriage has begun to unravel. For Sonny, so begins a summer of discovery—of love, betrayal, and most of all, of a brooding mystery that threatens to destroy his father and his town. Cut off from his college funds by his father, Sonny finds himself doing the unimaginable: taking a job as a “track-laying man,” the toughest in the mine. Moving out to live among the miners, Sonny is soon dazzled by a beautiful older woman who wants to be the mine’s first female engineer. And as the days of summer grow shorter, Sonny finds himself changing in surprising ways, taking the first real steps toward adulthood. But it’s a journey he can make only by peering into the mysterious heart of Coalwood itself, and most of all, by unraveling the story of a man’s death and a father’s secret. In Sky of Stone, Homer Hickam looks down the corridors of his past with love, humor, and forgiveness, brilliantly evoking a close-knit community where everyone knows everything about each other’s lives—except the things that matter most. Sky of Stone is a memoir that reads like a novel, mesmerizing us with rich language, narrative drive, and sheer storytelling genius.
The Dinosaur Hunter by Homer Hickam Published November 9th 2010 "A fascinating thriller, well crafted and relentless ... A cross between Tony Hillerman and Larry McMurtry, this is one hell of a good read.”--Douglas Preston, author of Tyrannosaur Canyon and Blasphemy The cowboys who work on the ranchlands of Montana expect more than their fair share of trouble. One of them is Mike Wire, a former homicide detective. Mike is about to learn murder and mayhem can happen under Motnana's big skies, too. Beneath the earth lie enough dinosaur fossils to fill several museum collections---and make a fortune for whoever claims them first. Soon he will have to combine everything he learned as a cop with everything he knows as a cowboy to protect the people and the land he could never live without.
Crater (Helium-3 #1) by Homer Hickam Published April 10th 2012 A MINING COLONY ON THE MOON. A DEADLY MISSION. AND A SECRET BIGGER THAN TWO WORLDS. It's the 22nd Century. A tough, pioneering people mine the moon for Helium-3 to produce energy for a desperate, war-torn Earth. Sixteen-year-old Crater Trueblood loves his job as a Helium-3 miner. But when he saves a fellow miner, his life changes forever. Impressed by his heroism, the owner of the mine orders Crater to undertake a dangerous mission. Crater doubts himself, but has no choice. He must go. With the help of Maria, the mine owner's frustrating but gorgeous granddaughter, and his gillie--a sentient and sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells--Crater must fight both human and subhuman enemies. He'll battle his way across a thousand miles of deadly lunar terrain and face genetically altered super warriors in his quest to recover an astonishing object that will alter the lives of everyone on the moon. "Long-haul trucking on the Moon . . . with raiders, romance and a secret mission . . . High adventure on the space frontier." --"Kirkus Reviews"
Crescent (Helium-3 #2) by Homer Hickam Published June 2013 They said she wasn’t human. They were wrong. A seemingly endless war against the insurgent Crowhoppers keeps the people of Moontown fighting when they’d rather be mining valuable Helium-3. Crater Trueblood’s valiant efforts against the genetically-manipulated beings weighs heavily on his mind. What is he really fighting for? In the midst of a deadly battle, Crater captures an enemy Crowhopper. But this one he refuses to kill. “It” is genetically more human than not and its gender seems to be female. She calls herself Crescent. Crater takes her to Moontown as a prisoner of war, but treats her kindly. However, at the hands of Moontown residents Crescent experiences prejudice and even cruelty. Soon Crescent is imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit. Crater comes to her aid, and the two become fugitives, escaping into the vast expanse of hostile terrain called “the big suck.” For Crater, it turns out the cause most worth fighting for may be right by his side.
