{"product_id":"rocket-boys-a-memoir-9780385333214","title":"Rocket Boys: A Memoir","description":"\u003cb\u003e#1 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER - A \"nostalgic and entertaining memoir\" (\u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e) about a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outer space--the inspiration for the film \u003ci\u003eOctober Sky\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A message of hope in an age of cynicism. . . . Perhaps we all have something to learn from a half-dozen boys who dared to reject all limitations . . . and resolved to send dreams roaring to the sky.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe San Diego Union-Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was 1957, the year Sputnik raced across the Appalachian sky, and the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia, was slowly dying. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFaced with an uncertain future, Homer Hickam nurtured a dream: to send rockets into outer space. The introspective son of the mine's superintendent and a mother determined to get him out of Coalwood forever, Homer fell in with a group of misfits who learned not only how to turn scraps of metal into sophisticated rockets but how to sustain their hope in a town that swallowed its men alive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs the boys began to light up the tarry skies with their flaming projectiles and dreams of glory, Coalwood, and the Hickams, would never be the same. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickam paints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia mining town of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, when anything was possible. Lush and lyrical, \u003ci\u003eRocket Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is a uniquely American memoir: A powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the end of the 1950s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, and of growing up and getting out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHomer Hickam\u003c\/b\u003e was born and raised in Coalwood, West Virginia. The author of \u003ci\u003eTorpedo Junction\u003c\/i\u003e (a Military History Book-of-the-Month Club selection) as well as numerous articles for such publications as \u003ci\u003eAir \u0026amp; Space\/Smithsonian \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAmerican History Illustrated\u003c\/i\u003e, he is a NASA payload training manager for the International Space Station program and lives in Huntsville, Alabama.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Delta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50617120063762,"sku":"9780385333214","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_06ab25a1-f6e3-4825-8532-7e3f291a7f1c.jpg?v=1732512250","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/rocket-boys-a-memoir-9780385333214","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}