Rocket Boys Book Essay

This book is about a young man who attends a small West Virginian High School. He lives in a house that is located off of the coal mine that the town rests on. Homer’s dad is the manager of the mine. Homer doesn’t receive much appreciation from his father. Homer sees on television the launch of the satellite sputnik, and after seeing this he is driven to be a part of the space race. He convinces some of his friends to help him build a rocket. They used terrible materials, and the rocket blew up their mother’s fence. They go to many different people for help on ideas, math and materials. After much hard work they finally build a rocket that launches into the air. The story keeps progressing and their rockets keep flying higher, as they get new ideas on how to build their rockets more effectively. One major person in helping them to develop their rockets is Miss Riley, their chemistry teacher. She does everything in her power to help these boys and convinces them to enter the science fair. They win the county, the state, and finally the national science fair, with much enthusiasm and support from their hometown. Homer and his friends launch their last six rockets in their town. Homer’s dad shows up for the launching of the last rocket. His father had never seen any of his rockets before, and Homer is thrilled. He allows his father to launch the last rocket, and the boys leave town to start their lives outside of their small town in West Virginia. The Author of this book was the main character himself. What I think he was trying to do at all was tell his amazing story of how he got to be one of the biggest influences in NASA and other space influenced industries. What he might be saying is just follow your dream, despite weaknesses you may have. Academically Homer Hickam excelled in the language arts (thus the book, Rocket boys), but he struggled in the sciences and mathematical areas. Because of his love for rocketry he went on to achieve his