By Homer Hickam
Amazon.com assessment during this follow-up to his bestselling autobiography *Rocket Boys*, Homer Hickam chronicles the eventful autumn of 1959 in his native land, the West Virginia mining city of Coalwood. Sixteen-year-old Homer and his friends within the sizeable Creek Missile business enterprise are highschool seniors, nonetheless construction home made rockets and hoping that technology will supply them with a price ticket into the broader international of school and white-collar jobs. Such desires lead them to suspect in a conservative small city the place "getting above your self" is the last word sin and the place Homer's father, superintendent of the Coalwood mines, is stingy with compliment and doubtful approximately his son's goals. Homer's mom continues to be supportive, yet bluntly reminds him, "You cannot count on every thing to move your method. occasionally existence simply has one other plan." certainly, Hickam's unvarnished portrait of Coalwood covers type struggle (union miners struggling with along with his authoritarian father), provincial narrow-mindedness (the neighborhood women scorn a tender lady dwelling open air wedlock with a guy who abuses her), and never-ending gossiping alongside the wooden "fence line." those sharp information make the unabashed sentiment of the book's remaining chapters believe earned instead of effortless. Hickam can spin a gripping yarn and hold a number of underlying topics and metaphors going even as. His smooth yet gritty memoir will contact readers' hearts and minds. *--Wendy Smith* From Publishers Weekly In his bestselling memoir, Rocket Boys (which turned the 1999 motion picture October Sky), former NASA engineer Hickam seemed again on the mining city of Coalwood, W.Va., while the 1957 ascent of Sputnik brought on Sonny and his teenage buddies to release their very own rockets and goal on the stars. This sequel is decided in 1959, while Sonny is a highschool senior, nonetheless sending up rockets at "Cape Coalwood," at neighborhood launches that grew to become full-scale social occasions with a number of spectators: "Even the large Creek cheerleaders got here, wearing complete uniform." Hickam digs deeper into his circle of relatives lifestyles, recalling an ambivalent courting along with his father, the superintendent of the neighborhood mine: "My dad was once, in lots of methods, [a] basic, plotting method and strategies opposed to an unyielding foe, the mine itself." listening to the consistent miner's cough in her personal apartment, Hickam's mom, Elsie, desires to depart the coal dust-covered neighborhood for the "fresh, fresh air" of Myrtle seashore, for the reason that "she knew rather well lung spots by no means obtained smaller, simply bigger," yet Homer Sr. is set to stick and retailer the mine. Amid the ensuing loved ones pressure, Sonny suffers from an inexplicable disappointment, regardless of his becoming dating with an area lady and his a variety of technological know-how and writing tasks. His reminiscences are sometimes akin to the younger exploits in stories by way of Jean Shepherd and Ray Bradbury, yet Hickam's voice is his personal. Recalling a misplaced eraDthe transition among small-town lifestyles and the dawning of the hot technological ageDhe brings his American native land to existence with bright pictures, beautiful characters and substantial literary magic. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Reed enterprise info, Inc.
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Extra resources for The Coalwood Way
Example text
Again, we drove through Welch. To my surprise, Dad stopped at the Parking Building and, without comment, led the way up a street and into the Woolworth’s department store. It was staying open late for miners on the evening shift. I followed as he went to the ladies’ section and bought earrings and a bracelet for Mom and had them wrapped in pretty Christmas paper and ribbons. Then I followed him back to the car and we turned for home. Mom was still awake when we got there. Dad put her present under the Christmas tree.
Maybe zincoshine’s just too hot,” he said. “Rocket candy worked pretty good. ” Quentin cried. “That’s why it’s so good! ” He eyed me. ” I was actually thinking I was going to knock Quentin’s block off if he said “rigor” or “rigorous” one more time. “I don’t know,” I said instead. It was an honest, if unimpressive, answer. Mr. ” When nobody else had any ideas on what to do, we started to clean up the Cape. As usual, we sang as we worked. We never knew exactly what we were going to sing. It just came to us.
He looked up the road and frowned, then shook his head. “Trouble there,” he said softly. ” WHEN I got home, I found Mom sitting at the kitchen table in front of the mural she was painting of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Chipper, her beloved pet squirrel, was on her lap, and a stack of drawings she was working on were on the table. They were the plans, I suspected, for Coalwood’s Veterans Day float built annually by the Coalwood Women’s Club. Mom was in charge of the float this year. “They’re not married,” she said when I mentioned Cuke and the woman.