Featured Author Homer Hickam Shares a Glimpse into his Latest Novel

The Festival is thrilled to have Homer Hickam, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Rocket Boys, as a Featured Author this year. Homer's new book Crater, the first novel in his new Helium-3 series for young adults, will be released just in time for the Festival. You have the opportunity to meet Homer at the Teen Book Fair Stage: Fiction on Sunday, April 29th at 10:55 AM with a free book signing after!

Homer will also be a part of USA Science & Engineering Festival Book Fair Featured Author Panel Discussion entitled Science Stories in Society & School: Using Narrative to Bridge the Gap. He will be discussing the importance of broadening his audience through cleverly written science themed books geared at every age along with five other author panelists, including Robin Cook and Pendred Noyce.This very special event will take place on Saturday, April 28th at 8 PM in Washington, DC and you can get free tickets here.

Read more about Homer Hickam and his novel Crater below:

When I was a boy in a West Virginia mining town, I designed and launched rockets that flew miles into the sky. I wrote about that in my memoir Rocket Boys which became the movie October Sky. I also wrote about how I'd watch miners going to work and imagine they were on the moon. That hasn't happened--not yet--but it doesn't keep me from imagining what it will be like when it does. So what will it be like to live on the moon? My new novel Crater answers that question. Crater is a 16-year old helium-3 miner who must be braver than he thinks he can be. Maria, a born risk-taker, is the 15-year old granddaughter of the mine owner. Together they cross a thousand deadly miles on the moon, then vault into space to find a mysterious treasure. Along the way, young readers learn about fusion energy, fuel cells, bioengineering, space suits, and a lot more plus low gravity sports like moonbuggy races and a vicious three-dimensional ball game played with shovels! The USA Science and Engineering Festival will be a great place to talk about this novel.