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October Sky (Paperback)

by Homer Hickam (Author) "UNTIL I BEGAN to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents..." (more)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £5.47 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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October Sky + October Sky [DVD] [1999] + Sky of Stone: A Memoir
Price For All Three: £15.73

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  • This item: October Sky by Homer Hickam

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  • October Sky [DVD] [1999] DVD ~ Laura Dern

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd; New edition edition (7 Oct 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 185702995X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857029956
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 256,729 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Inspired by Werner von Braun and his Cape Canaveral team, 14-year-old Homer Hickam decided in 1957 to build his own rockets. They were his ticket out of Coalwood, West Virginia, USA, a mining town that everyone knew was dying--everyone except Sonny's father, the mine superintendent and a company man so dedicated that his family rarely saw him. Hickam's smart, iconoclastic mother wanted her son to become something more than a miner and, along with a female science teacher, encouraged the efforts of his grandiosely named Big Creek Missile Agency. He grew up to be a NASA engineer and his memoir of the bumpy ride toward a gold medal at the National Science Fair in 1960--an unprecedented honour for a miner's kid--is rich in humour as well as warm sentiment. Hickam vividly evokes a world of close communal ties in which a storekeeper who sold him saltpeter warned, "Listen, rocket boy. This stuff can blow you to kingdom come." Hickam is candid about the deep disagreements and tensions in his parents' marriage, even as he movingly depicts their quiet loyalty to each other. The portrait of his ultimately successful campaign to win his aloof father's respect is equally affecting. --Wendy Smith


Mail on Sunday

'Gloriously inspiring'
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First Sentence
UNTIL I BEGAN to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. Read the first page
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October Sky
80% buy the item featured on this page:
October Sky 4.9 out of 5 stars (42)
£5.47
Sky of Stone: A Memoir
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Sky of Stone: A Memoir 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£4.88
The Coalwood Way
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The Coalwood Way 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£4.85
Back to the Moon
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Back to the Moon 3.8 out of 5 stars (5)
£4.88
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Customer Reviews

42 Reviews
5 star:
 (38)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Homer's "Odyssey", 19 Jun 2006
By Tim Bentley (Shetland, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
It takes a human pyramid comprising nearly 400,000 people to put one man on the moon, that is 399,999 who don't get the glory and whose names are not remembered. So why do they do it? What makes them get involved and build rocketships? Homer Hickams "October Sky" (aka "The Rocket Boys") shows us two things; passion for rockets, and the struggle of the underpriveliged to acheive something, anything that lifts their horizons and those of them around them.

Homer and friends' humble beginnings in coal rich Coalwood, West Virginia laid out a pre-determined life for them. They go to high school, then they go and work in the coal mines, and if they're very lucky, they can escape via a sporting scholarship to a College. Not that it happens for many. Homer and his close friends (Quentin, Roy Lee, and Sherman) had inspiration and support in the form of Werner von Braun and the Soviet Sputnik, and from their high school teacher Miss Riley - who says that teacher don't matter! - all of which galvanised the boys into building their own rockets.

October Sky is Homer's own story of his struggle to escape a dying town, his struggle to educate himself, and his striving to build viable rockets. Not only do the boys learn about rockets, but along the way they learn about themselves. All in all an inspiring read, emphasising that given the chance and the motivation kids can follow their dreams, and in Homer's case, all the way to NASA.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An authentic feel good book, 28 Oct 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Rocket Boys [Large Print Edition] (Paperback)
Simply one of the best feel good experiences you will get from a book. It made me laugh and cry and appreciate life and the effort we should all make to live it in a more honest, fulfilling and meaningful way.
It manages to be sentimental, whimsical and emotional without ever passing into queasy simplicity. Sonny's relationship with both his parents, his friends, girls, with himself, as well as the story of conflict within the mine, offers a rounded reading experience that paints a vivid picture of a world that is probably long gone but whose issues and values are as pertinent today as ever.
'The Coalwood Way', Hickham's companion piece to 'Rocket Boys' (NB: not a follow up) is good as well; more of the same but doesn't hold up as well as a complete work.
Go buy, or borrow, and read, 'Rocket Boys' (aka 'October Sky'. But I wouldn't bother with the film).
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You'll love this book., 18 Oct 2004
Only bought this book on a whim - so glad I did. An inspirational read. Beautifully written, I was completely absorbed from the start - especially with it being a true story. Exciting, thought provoking, incredibly touching - one of the best books I have ever read. It's done the rounds of many of my friends who without exception loved it too.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars inspiring
How can anyone not give this wonderful book five stars? It is well written and tells the tale of little boys from poor backgrounds whose dreams came true. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Dr John N Sutherland

5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyable read - if just a little over sentimental
I loved this book, and the period in time the story spans. The one mildly negative review of this book I have read on Amazon, complains about the sugary sentimentallity and all... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Roger Rossi

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Sawyer In Space Race
A great story. A well written tale of growing up, of rebellion, of self discovery. And yes, it is inspirational. Read more
Published on 23 May 2007 by M. I. R. Clarke

5.0 out of 5 stars Rocket Boys
I loved the nostalgic look at small town America and the contrasts between the hardship of the miners' lives and the fairly carefree existence of the teenagers, encouraged by... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2007 by flashreader

4.0 out of 5 stars Science...
October Sky was an awesome story. Homer Hickam Jr. grew up in Coalwood, West Virginia. Coalwood was a mining town, but neither he nor his mother wanted him to work there... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2007 by Shelagh

4.0 out of 5 stars the honest tale of growing up
rocket boys is a biography of homer hickman's (sonny's) childhood and is a very honest tale of growing up in middle america. Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2004 by andrew lapworth

5.0 out of 5 stars October Sky a.k.a Rocket Boys
There is very little I can write about this book that others have not already said. This is truly one of the great books of easily the last thirty years, and I do believe destined... Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2003 by Jim Hayes

2.0 out of 5 stars Oversugared apple-pie
I'd love to agree with all the other reviewers but from the off this book is pedestrian and full of stereotypes and too sugary by far. Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2003 by Mikidoli

5.0 out of 5 stars innocent,charming,inspiring
This is a book of great warmth and humour which carries its message of hope and inspiration very lightly in a charming tale of boyhood innocence and striving against the odds. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2002 by Silver Moon Sailor

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
This was one of the best books I have read for a long time. It really evokes the atmosphere of small town America in the fifties and the story is truly inspirational.
Published on 20 Sep 2002 by Scott Petersen

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