Homer Hickam – författare

A moving tribute to love—and alligators—from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Rocket Boys, the basis of the movie October Sky.

Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam (the father of the author) were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie’s dreams of a life with him were crushed and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer.

Unfulfilled as a miner’s wife, Elsie was reminded of her carefree days with Buddy every day because of his unusual wedding gift: an alligator named Albert she raised in the only bathroom in the house. When Albert scared Homer by grabbing his pants, he gave Elsie an ultimatum: “Me or that alligator!” After giving it some thought, Elsie concluded there was only one thing to do: Carry Albert home.

Carrying Albert Home is the funny, sweet, and sometimes tragic tale of a young couple and a special alligator on a crazy one,zero-mile adventure. Told with the warmth and down-home charm that made Rocket Boys a beloved bestseller, Homer Hickam’s rollicking tale is ultimately a testament to that strange and marvelous emotion we inadequately call love.

“An intentionally improbable, bizarre trip through Southern Americana that is . . . an amalgam of fact and an almost Walter Mitty-esque degree of fancy, evoking (because of the deadly yet indispensable animal) Life of Pi and (because of the trope of life as journey) Huckleberry Finn.” —BookPage

Las memorias best seller que inspiraron la película Cielo de Octubre, Rocket Boys es una autobiografía poderosa y una historia luminosa de la vida en la década de 1960, del amor de una madre y del temor de un padre, de un grupo de jóvenes que soñaban con lanzar cohetes al espacio… y de hacer realidad los sueños.

Así comienza la maravillosamente entretenida y extraordinaria autobiografía de la vida de «Sonny» Homer Hickam, Jr. en Coalwood, Virginia Occidental, un pueblo miserable donde lo único que importaba era la minería de carbón y el fútbol americano. El segundo hijo introspectivo del superintendente de la mina y de una madre decidida a alcanzar una vida mejor para su hijo, Sonny se unió a un grupo de inadaptados para quienes el futuro parecía incierto.

Pero en 1957, luego de haber visto el satélite soviético Sputnik cruzar el cielo de los Apalaches, Sonny y sus amigos adolescentes tomaron el futuro en sus manos, cambiando sus vidas y su ciudad para siempre. Recordando una carrera distinguida en la NASA que hizo realidad los sueños de su niñez, Hickam relata la historia de su juventud, llevando a los lectores a la vida de aquel pueblo minero y las de los muchachos que encarnaron sus tensiones y sus sueños. Con la ayuda —y en ocasiones los obstáculos— de los habitantes de Coalwood, los jóvenes aprendieron no solo a convertir escombros de minería en cohetes que surcaban los cielos, sino que encontraron esperanza en una ciudad en la que el progreso pasaba desapercibido.

Una autobiografía única, Cielo de octubre es a la vez una crónica inspiradora de triunfo y una historia luminosa del amor de una madre, los temores de un padre y la vida de un joven. Con la sencilla gracia de un narrador por naturaleza, Homer Hickam capta a la perfección un momento en el cual un pueblo agonizante, una familia dividida y una banda de adolescents soñadores se atrevieron a mirar más allá de sus diferencias y a fijar sus objetivos en las estrellas... y vieron un futuro que la nación estaba apenas empezando a imaginar.

A story of romance and loss and a keen portrait of life at an extraordinary point in American history, Rocket Boys is a chronicle of triumph.

One of the most beloved bestsellers in recent years, Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir. A powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the end of the 1950s, it is the story of a mother''s love and a father''s fears, of growing up and getting out. With the grace of a natural storyteller, Homer Hickam looks back after a distinguished NASA career to tell his own true story of growing up in a dying coal town and of how, against the odds, he made his dreams of launching rockets into outer space come true. A story of romance and loss and a keen portrait of life at an extraordinary point in American history, Rocket Boys is a chronicle of triumph.

A sixteen-year-old must battle his way across a thousand miles of deadly lunar terrain and face genetically altered super warriors in his quest to recover an astonishing object that will alter the lives of everyone on the moon . . . and beyond.

It’s the 22nd Century. A tough, pioneering people mine the moon produce energy for a desperate, war-torn Earth. Sixteen-year-old Crater Trueblood loves his job as a Helium-3 miner. But when he saves a fellow miner, his life changes forever. Impressed by his heroism, the owner of the mine orders Crater to undertake a dangerous mission. Crater doesn’t think he can do it, but he has no choice. He must go.

With the help of Maria, the mine owner’s frustrating but gorgeous granddaughter, and his gillie—a sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells—Crater must fight both human and subhuman enemies to complete his mission.

New York Times bestselling author Homer Hickman (Rocket Boys) will take you on a hold-your-breath adventure across the moon, and you’ll never look at the night sky the same way again.

She was born to kill, born to die.

Crescent is a crowhopper—a genetically modified mercenary programmed for ruthless warfare. When she’s taken prisoner by Crater Trueblood instead of being killed in battle, she thinks it’s a disaster.

Crater is weary of war. He’s a miner, not a soldier. He’d rather be mining Helium-3 than battling the infernal crowhoppers. But after he captures Crescent and brings her to Moontown, he’s surprised how much he enjoys her company. When she’s falsely accused of murder, he becomes an outlaw to help her escape.

The unlikely pair escapes into the “big suck” and wind up trekking with a caravan of mining pioneers toward a lunar ghost town called Endless Dust. To survive, they must do more than navigate the beautiful, desolate moonscape and battle a persistent band of crowhoppers sent to capture or kill them. They must decide what—and who—is truly worth fighting for.

“Expertly blending space opera and hard sci-fi, romance, and even mystery . . . this is fast-paced, packed with intriguing ideas . . .” —Peter Gutierrez, Booklist Review

“Classic Golden Age science fiction high-adventure. It brought back memories of reading Asimov . . . that same sense of wonder. I absolutely loved it.” —Michael Scott, New York Times Best-selling Author, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series

“Hickam has a wild imagination and a keen eye for the science behind the fiction.” —JAVIER GRILLO-MARXUACH, writer & producer on Lost and Helix, creator of The Middleman

Crater Trueblood has to rescue his ex-girlfriend . . . and the entire human race.

Maria Medaris is the 21-year-old matriarch of the most powerful family on the moon—gorgeous, powerful, and high-maintenance. When she is kidnapped by green-lipped, gene-splicing scientists, Maria’s only hope turns out to be the very man she once spurned: Crater Trueblood.

Crater and the Lunar Rescue Company must rescue Maria before she joins forces with the lunatics who have taken her hostage and aim to make her queen.

Turns out more than Maria is at stake: the planet Earth, majestically rising over the lunar horizon, is in the crosshairs of an asteroid engineered by Maria’s abductors. If Crater can’t stop it, humanity on Earth will be destroyed.

The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance . . . and the clock is ticking.

“Hickam again displays a knack for suspenseful scenes out in the ‘big suck’ of space . . .” —KIRKUS Reviews

“An exciting romp through a surprisingly realistic future.” —JASPER T. SCOTT, author of the Dark Space series

Can their love survive the difference in their circumstances?

Song Hawkins is a beautiful, tough, but lonely New York City businesswoman who thinks she''s met the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the superintendent of a West Virginia coal mine. But soon after they impulsively marry, Song realizes they''re in big trouble. She can''t imagine life outside of New York, and Cable has no intention of leaving his beloved town of Highcoal.

Song''s visit to the little mining community only makes things worse. It looks like the marriage is over. But in a shocking turn of events, Song realizes it''s up to her to put on the red helmet of the new coal miner and descend into the deep darkness. There she faces her greatest challenge with choices and courage that will forever impact the life of Cable and the entire town.