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The only thing
better than reading a good book is discussing a good
book with
someone else who has read it!
One Book, One County is
a community read program. Communities all over the country choose
to read the same book, at the same time, and then talk about it
informally with one another and in organized groups. The
community library, organizations and businesses often provide book
discussion groups and additional programs that tie-in with the
books themes.
One Book, One County is
Wells County’s first community read program. Rocket Boys
by Homer Hickam is the book our community selected to read this
fall. Everyone is encouraged to read Rocket Boys
during August, September and October. Thanks to the financial
support of the WELLS COUNTY FOUNDATION, the UNITED WAY of WELLS
COUNTY, and the FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY, books are available for
those wishing to participate. The library has over 100 copies for
loan. Multiple copies may be checked out for book clubs, civic
and social groups and even businesses to participate. Those
wishing to own a copy may purchase one ($6.00 ea.) at the
library. Hundreds of copies are available for the students at all
three county high schools. A variety of programs based around the
themes of the book are in the planning. Movie showings, “outreach
to space” interactive displays, rocket launches, book discussions,
trivia challenge, speakers on space and rocketry, and a 50’s sock
hop are among the activities. Check
Special Events for dates and
times. Students are also encouraged to enter a special
essay contest (rules and
instructions included on this site).
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Rocket Boys is a
true story. It was 1957, the year Sputnik raced across the
Appalachian sky, and the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia,
was slowly dying.
Faced with an uncertain future, Homer
Hickam nurtured a dream: to send rockets into outer space. The
introspective son of the mine’s superintendent and a mother
determined to get him out of Coalwood forever, Homer fell in with
a group of misfits who learned not only how to turn scraps of
metal into sophisticated rockets, but how to sustain their hope in
a town that swallowed its men alive.
As the boys began to light up the
starry skies with their flaming projectiles and dreams of glory,
Coalwood, and the Hickams, would never be the same. |
