Sky of Stone: A Memoir

A fascinating followup to [October Sky]. A young man with huge dreams becomes... a coal miner, just like his dad. Would be heartbreaking if we didn't already know he ends up as a NASA engineer, but with that ending already known, we can appreciate the lessons he learns and the way his perspective changes--from staring at the stars to deep underground.

Homer Hickam continues to astound me with the touching and funny and marvelous writing he does about his life as a coal town "boy". This episode, the last in his trilogy about Coalwood, WV, is set the summer of 1962. This is the summer after his first year of college and it is an amazing tale involving secrets, lies, growing and learning. Sonny (Homer's boyhood nickname) does most of the growing and spends a lot of time trying to uncover the secrets and the lies. Anyone who wants to see the good in life, even in hard times, should read this trilogy - it is a wonderful journey from someone who went from a coal mine in West Virginia to an engineer for NASA who has traveled the world.

I picked up the first book in this series because I was interested in the rocketry story. By the time I got to this one, I was in it for the coal and the West Virginia town of Coalwood. I felt like I had lived Homer Hickam's adolescent life after reading his trilogy. Change seems to happen so slowly, then one day you look back and realize you are someone else. I'll never forget it, and I will read Mr. Hickam's non-autobiographical books.

Homer Hickam grew up in a West Virginia mining town. He wasn't a miner, nor a football player, as was everyone else in the twon. He and his friends played with rockets. When he went away to study engineering, there was an accident at the mines. His father was being blamed for the death of man. Homer's life was disrupted as he went home to try and help.

This story continues from October Sky in the story of Homer Hickam, but the book stands well on its own. We meet the characters, and understand some of the sociology of a small mining town and its issues.

The story is a mystery, unraveling the events leading to the death of one of the mining supervisors. Although, I don't think the reader can solve the mystery himself, it is a good show more mystery, and an interesting anecdote in the life of Homer "Sonny" Hickam. show less

As #3 in the Coalwood series, this book pulls together Sonny Hickam's youth in this close=knit coal mining community as he joins the ranks of adulthood. He spends the summer between his first two years of college in the coal mines where his father is the superintendent and discovers and helps solve some local secrets and learns the value of honesty along the way.

It should come as no surprise that I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed October Sky the prequel to this, as well as the film, October Sky. My greatest enjoyment always comes from memoirs too. If you liked October Sky, you won't go wrong by reading this sequel.

After completing a rigorous freshman year at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Homer Hickam plans to relax at Myrtle Beach with his mother. His mother urges Homer to stay in Coalwood. His father is facing some serious mining issues; however, Dad doesn't want Homer's help. Homer's relationship with his father remains strained. Against his parents' wishes, Homer takes a summer job in the Coalwood mines. His father warns him, "You'll get the jobs no one else wants." Homer moves into the miners' club house where he has to pay for meals, clothes, rent and mining equipment. He has little money left at the end of the month. Homer's job consists of removing and replacing track, as well as, a variety of other tasks; he builds muscle and character. show more He develops a crush on Rita, a junior engineer. Throughout his college summers, Homer continues to work in the mines. This memoir is a poignant journey of a young man's personal development and an in-depth look at the coal mining industry. show less