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When
Homer "Sonny" Hickam soared into the skies and our hearts in ROCKET
BOYS, we caught a glimpse of the optimism and faith that helped
an unlikely group of boys launch rockets and, ultimately, their
careers from a poor West Virginia coal town. The New York Times
bestselling book was renamed to coincide with the award-winning
movie based on the novel, OCTOBER SKY.
It is now 1959. The Rocket Boys are still perfecting their handmade
rockets and, as high school seniors, preparing for their futures.
Homer is determined to prove to his father that he is college material,
but with the mine perilously close to running out of coal and shutting
down, the prospects for the future of any of Coalwood's children
is bleak. Miners have lost their jobs and homes, public services
have been cut to residences in the outlying areas, and Homer's father
is faced with initiating an extremely dangerous and controversial
new mining method in order to save the town and the mine from oblivion.
Homer's mother feels increasingly cut off from her husband and the
townspeople as her role as the mine superintendent's wife places
her at odds with the wives of the union workers.
Optimism is hard to come by in the bleak winter months of the last
year of the 1950s, and Homer is overcome with an overriding sense
of gloom with his future so uncertain. The faith and hope of these
hard working people, however, form the basis for an uplifting memoir,
as Sonny and his friends resurrect the Spirit of Christmas when
Coalwood need is the most.
Hickam's storytelling talent brings to life the characters from
his hard-scrabble childhood in a touching tale that evokes the mood
of the mid-20th Century. Sonny learns to see his parents in an entirely
different light as events unfold. He moves from childhood to young
manhood in a few short months as Coalwood's unique way of life is
buffeted by forces of time and change. THE COALWOOD WAY reminds
us all of the importance of keeping dreams alive.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea (HOST BKPG ROZ)
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