LITERATURE

Rocket Boys: A Memoir

by Homer H. Hickam

, Jr. Delacorte. 1998. 384p. ISBN 9780385333207. $26; pap. ISBN 9780385333214. $16.

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Few boys escaped the coal mining towns of West Virginia of the 1950s without football scholarships, but Hickam and his friends sought a way. Inspired by the space race, they built and launched a series of rockets, dreaming they would earn scholarships to study to be aerospace engineers. Winning community support was easier than getting a father's approval. Hickam re-creates an exciting time in American history in this first of three memoirs. (LJ 11/1/98)

Reviewed by Staff , Jan 24, 2013

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