A review by scottcurtis10
Rocket Boys: A Memoir by Homer Hickam

5.0

As so many others have said in the past, the memoirs of Homer Hickam are enjoyable at different levels. The rocket science here is interesting, but really serves mainly as the narrative driver of this account of coming of age. As someone who grew up on the edges of Appalachia (raised in York, PA and undergraduate college in Pittsburgh, PA) the social environment and personality types that Homer encounters in his hometown of Coalwood and in Big Creek High School were familiar to me. I think this memoir is successful because of Homer's vulnerability, his alternating moods of sympathy and insensitivity, and his frankness at relating the life of an adolescent boy. His issues with his parents and peers are instantly recognizable to today's teens, even if the circumstances of his life are much different than ours. There is a reason why this book has been chosen many times as a "Community Read" book by public libraries; the story of Homer Hickam is a very compelling, American tale.