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Feb 13, 2014dixiedog rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Rocket Boys – A Memoir by Homer H. Hickam Jr. – teenage prodigy, Vietnam veteran, Aeronautical Engineer, and former employee of NASA is a warm and very rewarding adult rated book; suitable for readers 16 years of age and older. The book was a little slow for the first fifty to sixty pages while Mr. Hickman describes his childhood and his arduous relationship with his father and older athletic brother Jim. He also describes in detail what life was like in a coal mining town in West Virginia in the 1950s. Homer was a typical teenage boy of the early space race era and perhaps this book may appeal more readers who were youngsters or teenagers in the period 1950-1970. The book picks up nicely when Homer and his friends build their first rocket so-to-speak; i.e., it performed more like a stick of dynamite than a shooting star. The author has a great sense of humour which is scattered sparsely throughout his book. The book grows on you and I personally hated to see it end. Homer’s story was made into the movie ‘October Sky’ which is also available at the Ottawa Public Library. The movie of course deviates somewhat from the book and while very entertaining, the book in many ways was better. Highly recommended by Senior Doctor-at-Bass! D. A.