Cover Attraction ~ March 25th 2009

Cover Attraction is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. She says "I'm a very visual person and love beautiful or interesting cover art. It entices and invites to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by."

The cover of this book grabbed my attention right away. A winter scene, set in West Virginia (where I have lived before) at twilight. I could see myself standing on that very street, breathing in the cold winter air.

This week my Cover Attraction is The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam.

I enjoy reading memoirs. Reading a story about something that really happened appeals to me immensely. I especially like reading non-fictional stories that take place in the 50's and 60's, when life was better and less complicated than it is now. A great example of a story like this, is Homer Hickam's The Coalwood Way.

This is the memoir of Homer Hickam. He is a former NASA engineer and also author of the book Rocket Boys. The Coalwood Way is a follow up to that book. He tells the tale of the autumn of 1956, when he is sixteen years old, in the town of Coalwood, West Virginia. Homer and his friends start a club called "The Big Creek Missile Agency". They build homemade rockets and have big dreams of going off to college and landing good jobs when they are older. Homer and his father don't see eye to eye on that issue. Homer Hickam Sr. is superintendent of the Coalwood Mines. He doesn't want Homer Jr, to be disappointed if his dreams do not come true. Homer's mom, Elsie, supports her son 100%. Her desire is to leave Coalwood, WV and move to Myrtle Beach, SC. She wants her husband out of the coal mines, as he has already begun Black Lung Disease.
This is a truly wonderful memoir! The story stays with you long after you have finished reading it. (Five Stars)
Island Books; 1st edition (September 4, 2001)
400 pages
ISBN-10: 0440237165