Rocket Boys is a marvellous, masterfully written autobiography. It recounts the formative years of Homer H. Hickam, Jr., a young man growing up in the mining town of Coalwood (West Virgina) with a burning passion for rocketry. It is the story of how he and his high school friends overcame technical, financial and personal hurdles to design and build ever more powerful rockets. Their efforts and perseverance against all odds gained them the gold medal at the 1960 National Science Fair and propelled them to careers outside the constrained universe of their hometown. Homer Hickam, in particular, graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and moved on to become a NASA engineer at the Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville (Alabama), the working place for many years of his childhood hero: Dr. W. Von Braun.
Rocket Boys is an interesting read at many levels. First and foremost, it is a touching personal account. The story of a boy who did not fit his environment and struggled to find his true path in life. It is also the story of the difficult relationship between a son and his father. A relationship that suffered from mismatching expectations and the only so natural generational gap but eventually grew into mutual acceptance and understanding. Finally, it is a powerful tale of the early years of the American space program. A tale told from the distance of a mining town in the heart of West Virginia. A recollection devoid of technical details and complicated chronologies, but rich in the expectations, fears and pride of simple people.
Rocket Boys is one of my favourite books, a highly recommended read that I can only rate 5/5.
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