Homer Hickam – författare

‘Must-read… A funny yet tragic tale of a husband and wife’s car journey across the US with Albert the alligator in tow. Yes, really.’ Marie ClaireA journey of a thousand miles. With an alligator on the back seat. And John Steinbeck as a passenger.This is a tale where everything is true,except the bits that are made up.In 1930s America, the Great Depression made everyone’s horizons smaller, and Elsie Lavender found herself back where she began, in the coalfields of West Virginia.She had just one memento of her halcyon days – a baby alligator named Albert.Then one day, her husband’s stoical patience snapped and Elsie had to choose between Homer and Albert.She decided that there was only one thing to do: they would carry Albert home to Florida.And so began their odyssey – a journey like no other, where Elsie, Homer and Albert encountered everything from movie stars and revolutionaries to Ernest Hemingway and hurricanes in their struggle to find love, redemption,and a place to call home.From the bestselling author of Rocket Boys–the basis of the movie October Sky–comes a long-awaited prequel. Big Fish meets The Notebook in this novel about a man, a woman, and their alligator.

Previously published in paperback as October Sky.Three years in the life of Homer ‘Sonny’ Hickam, from the moment he sees the Sputnik satellite overhead in West Virginia to his successful launch of a prizewinning rocket.In 1957, Coalwood, West Virginia, was a town the post-war boom never quite reached, and dominated by the black steel towers of the mine. For fourteen-year-old Homer ‘Sonny’ Hickam there are only two routes in life: a college football scholarship, or a life underground. But from the moment the town turns out to watch the world’s first space satellite, Sputnik, as it passes overhead, Sonny and his friends embark on a mission of their own – to form the Big Creek Missile Agency, and build a rocket.Looking back after a distinguished career as a NASA engineer, Homer Hickam tells the warm, vivid story of youth and ambition that inspired the 1999 film October Sky. It is the tale of a group of teenage boys who dared to imagine a life beyond the confines of the coal pit, and went on to design, build and launch the rockets that would change their lives, and their town, forever.

Una historia emocionalmente evocadora acerca de un hombre, una mujer y un caimán es un emotivo tributo al amor, del autor best seller del New York Times de las galardonadas memorias Rocket Boys: la base de la película Cielo de Octubre. Elsie Lavender y Homer Hickam (el padre del autor) eran compañeros de clase en la secundaria en los campos de carbón de West Virginia, graduándose justo cuando comenzaba la Gran depresión. Cuando Homer pidió le propuso matrimonio, Elsie partió para Orlando donde congenió con un actor bailarín llamado Buddy Ebsen (sí, ese Buddy Ebsen). Pero cuando Buddy se mudó para Nueva York, los sueños de Elsie de una vida con él se hicieron trizas, y eventualmente regresó a los campos de carbón, y se casó con Homer. Insatisfecha como esposa de un minero, Elsie recordaba sus despreocupados días con Buddy cada día debido a su inusual regalo de boda: un caimán llamado Albert al que crió en el único baño que había en la casa. Cuando Albert asustó a Homer al agarrarle los pantalones, le dio a Elsie un ultimátum: «¡Yo o ese caimán!». Después de pensarlo un poco, Elsie llegó a la conclusión de que había una sola cosa que hacer: llevar a Albert a casa. Este es el relato divertido, dulce y a veces trágico de una joven pareja y un caimán especial en una loca aventura de mil millas de distancia. Contado con la calidez y el sencillo encanto que hizo de Rocket Boys un querido best seller, el divertido relato de Homer Hickam es el mejor testamento a esa extraña y maravillosa emoción que de modo inadecuado llamamos amor.

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.The first installment of the Helium-3 series Book #1: CraterBook #2: CrescentBook #3: Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue CompanyBook length: 75,000 wordsIncludes discussion questions for book clubs

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.Sweet and thoughtful contemporary readStand-alone novelBook length: 86,000 wordsIncludes discussion questions for book clubs

“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 MiddlemanCrater 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

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

From Homer Hickam, the author of the #1 bestselling Rocket Boys adapted into the beloved film October Sky, comes this astonishing memoir of high adventure, war, love, NASA, and his struggle for literary success.Homer Hickam’s memoir Rocket Boys and the movie adaptation October Sky have become one of the most popular stories in the world, inspiring millions to pursue a better life. But what happened to Homer after he was a West Virginia rocket boy? In his latest memoir, Homer recounts his life in college where he built the world's biggest, baddest game cannon, fought through some of the worst battles in Vietnam, became a scuba instructor, discovered sunken U-boats, wrote the definitive account of a World War II naval battle, befriended Tom Clancy, made a desperate attempt to save the passengers of a sunken river boat, trained the first Japanese astronauts, taught David Letterman to scuba dive, helped to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, wrote his number one bestselling Rocket Boys, and was on set during the making of October Sky. Although told with humor and wit, Hickam does not shy away from the pain and hardship endured and the mistakes he made during the tumultuous decades since his life in the town he made famous—Coalwood, West Virginia.

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