I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Homer Hickam's memoir, Sky of Stone. What a great writer he is! He makes a work of non-fiction fascinating with all the story elements he employs. In this coming-of-age tale of a young man's summer working in a coal mine, Hickam has managed to include action, suspense, mystery, romance, humor, history and social issues.
This is a wonderful book! It's the third in a series of memoirs about Hickam's youth. I haven't read the other two, but I did see the movie based on the first book, October Sky, which was very well done. All three books were well received, as was the movie.
From this book, I'm learning a lot about what it was like to live in a West Virginia coal town in 1961, at the height of the cold war and America's industrial might. I'm also learning about Homer Hickam--especially how well he writes.
I'm getting close to the end now, where all the questions about what happened in the mine and who was to blame for the explosion will be answered, no doubt to my satisfaction. I won't tell any more than that because I'm hoping you all will read it!
I would like to read some of his other books in the future, but for the moment, I don't own any. So once I finish this, I'll be choosing another neglected volume from my collection. Stay tuned!
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