Rocket Boys, the story of a a young boy who wanted to become a rocket scientist, is set in the mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia, during the 1950s. The bestselling book richly portrays the drama of family dynamics, peer relationships, and small town economics.
Linda Terry Hickam described the book: "Please don't get the idea that Homer's books are in any way technical. He wrote about his amateur rockets in the first memoir the same way Mark Twain wrote about steamships in his books about life along the Mississippi. Homer's missiles are used as metaphors to paint a gloriously colorful picture of life in the mountains when 'rockets once leapt into the air, propelled not by physics, but by the vibrant love of an honorable people, and the instruction of a dear teacher, and the dreams of boys.'"
Read the book review written by Kathy Kelly, Sioux City Public Library.
Review the discussion questions developed by
One Book One Siouxland volunteers Karleen Waller and Margot Chesebro.
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