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A coming-of-age story set in a 1950s coal mining town. I didn't realise until half way through this book that it is a memoir, as it could just as easily be fiction. Hickam leads us through the process that started him on his way to being a NASA scientist, and along the way he lets us live the life of that small community. By the end of the book I felt like I knew the characters well, including his distant and driven father, and mother who always found a way to help him live his dreams. The two r
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"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." -Plutarch
That could act as a summary to the book. At fourteen-years-old Homer Hickam was an average student with no real ambition in a dying town--and then in 1957 Sputnick swept over the October skies of West Virginia. It inspired him and his friends to start a rocket club, and in learning how to put those rockets in the air he learned physics, chemistry--and even taught himself calculus. But this is about more than rocket scien ...more
That could act as a summary to the book. At fourteen-years-old Homer Hickam was an average student with no real ambition in a dying town--and then in 1957 Sputnick swept over the October skies of West Virginia. It inspired him and his friends to start a rocket club, and in learning how to put those rockets in the air he learned physics, chemistry--and even taught himself calculus. But this is about more than rocket scien ...more
Good book. I learned that determination overcomes many obstacles. The author and his friends build and launch rockets despite lacking the education, experience, or materials with which to build them. The main character, Homer Jr., grows up in a coal mining town in WV at the beginning of the space race. His father, the mine superintendent, does not support his ambitions to build rockets because he wants him to work at the mine. He is overshadowed by an older brother who is also a football hero. H
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Apr 02, 2011
Angela Randall
marked it as to-read
Sep 15, 2011
Katie Cole
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Aug 11, 2013
Somdutta
marked it as to-read
Jan 05, 2020
Debby
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Jun 28, 2025
Nikolai Markovic
marked it as to-read
