Rocket Boys

A detailed Summary of Rocket Boys


Rocket Boys, an exciting memoir of a group of boys who are interested in rocketry, was written by Homer Hickam Jr. This autobiographical book tells about Homer's adventures with his rocketry friends. While Homer is launching these rockets, he deals with such problems as school, friends, and his dysfunctional family. His father, the superintendent of the local coalmine, disapproves of his building of rockets, and wants him to become a miner. His mother, on the other hand, is urging on Homer because she knows that the mine is dangerous and can kill her son. Even with so much going on around him, Homer and the "rocket boys" keep building and shooting off rockets.

This story took place in Coalwood, a mining town in the West Virginian mountains, and in the surrounding towns. This story occurred around 1957 to 1961 and covered Homer's entire high school years. There were some very important events in this book. The first event took place in 1957 when the awestruck Homer


watched as the Russian satellite Sputnik drifted over Coalwood as it made its legendary orbit around the earth. This inspired Homer to start building and launching rockets. The second important event in this book came about when a rocket that was launched by the boys actually flew. So far, all of their rockets had just been duds. Their happiness was muffled though, when they learned that the rocket had struck one of the mine's many factories. Homer's father was outraged and forebade him to launch any more rockets on company property, which consisted of about everything within a two-mile radius of the town. Another important event was when Homer won the national science fai!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because it is about something I can relate to. I am interested in rocketry, and build my own rockets. I would recommend this book to anyone with a goal, because it sends the message that if you try hard you can accomplish it. The reading level in this book is d

Some common words found in the essay are:
West Virginian, Hickam Jr, Rocket Boys, rocket boys, homer's father, launching rockets, homer win fair, win fair, homer win, rocket launched, national science, writing book, try hard,

Approximate Word count = 653
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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