Rocket Boys

The Rocket Boys of the title are a group of four teenage boys, including the memoir’s author, Homer Hickam Jr. Homer Jr. is called “Sonny” to distinguish him from his father, Homer Sr., who is a...

Rocket Boys, the memoir of former NASA engineer, Vietnam War veteran, and now best-selling author Homer "Sonny" Hickman Jr., was published in 1998. It follows Hickman Jr.'s coming of age in a small...

Coalwood can be seen as an important character in Hickam's work because it represents Homer's antipathy. Homer recognizes the fate of those who remain in Coalwood as one he wishes to avoid. Almost...

The importance of friendship is a recurring theme throughout Homer Hickam’s 1998 memoir of growing up in the coal mines of West Virginia with dreams of a future as a rocket scientist. “Rocket...

I think that one of the most compelling parallels between both is the idea that human perseverance can represent one of the greatest individual qualities. Both Lily and Homer represent characters...

Part of what lies at Homer's primary motivation of his dreams is to experience a reality that is not readily offered in Coalwood. I think that the significance of Homer's quest and the resistance...

In true scientific fashion, there is no easy answer to how Homer, Sr. is depicted. Homer is a traditional father. He is not the most emotionally expressive or supportive of men, but given the...

I think that the book does a great job in linking up the need for math and science to rocket development and space exploration. The fact that the book takes place during the Sputnik launch is...