> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 18 December 2007
  • ISBN: 9780307423320
  • Imprint: RH US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

The Coalwood Way

A Memoir





In this “irresistible” memoir “as compelling and rousing as a NASA liftoff” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rocket Boys takes us deeper into the soul of his West Virginia hometown during a pivotal moment that irrevocably changed its unique way of life.

“Another classic coming-of-age tale . . . the rocket boy soars again.”—People

Fall, 1959. Homer “Sonny” Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys are in their senior year at Big Creek High, and the town of Coalwood finds itself at a painful crossroads.

The strains can be felt within the Hickam home, where Homer Sr. struggles to save the mine, and his wife, Elsie, is feeling increasingly isolated from both her family and the townspeople. Sonny, despite a blossoming relationship with a local girl, finds his own mood darkened by an unexplainable sadness.

Then, with the holidays approaching, trouble at the mine and the arrival of a beautiful young outsider bring unexpected changes in both the Hickam family and the town of Coalwood.

  • Published: 18 December 2007
  • ISBN: 9780307423320
  • Imprint: RH US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

About the author

Homer Hickam

Homer H. Hickam, Jr., was born and raised in Coalwood, West Virginia. The author of Torpedo Junction, a Military History Book of the Month Club selection, as well as numerous articles for such publications as Smithsonian Air and Space and American History Illustrated, he is a NASA payload training manager for the International Space Program and lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

Also by Homer Hickam

See all