Order of Book Series
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Homer Hickam Books in Order

Homer Hickam has written 20 books, published between 1989 and 2021. The first book is Torpedo Junction (1989) and the newest is Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky (2021). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
20
Published
1989–2021
Pages on record
5,199 in 17 of 20 books
Reading time
87–130 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,199 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

See all 20 books in order Printable Homer Hickam checklist
Photo of Homer Hickam, author

Homer Hickam is an American author, a Vietnam War veteran and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His memoir Rocket Boys (1998), also published as October Sky, reached the New York Times bestseller list and became the 1999 film October Sky; The Coalwood Way (2000) and Sky of Stone (2001) continue that autobiographical line. The Second World War, coal miners and aerospace engineers run through the subject headings, and Josh Thurlow is the one catalogued series. Twenty titles are catalogued, published between 1989 and 2021, from Torpedo Junction (1989) to Don't Blow Yourself Up (2021). Hickam was born in 1943.

How many Homer Hickam books are there?

Homer Hickam has 20 books, released between 1989 and 2021. They include 2 series and 14 titles listed outside any series.

Homer Hickam Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 Homer Hickam books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Torpedo Junction by Homer Hickam (1989)
  2. Cover of Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam (1998)
  3. Cover of Back to the Moon by Homer Hickam (1999)
  4. Cover of The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam (2000)
  5. Cover of Sky of Stone by Homer Hickam (2001)
  6. Cover of We Are Not Afraid by Homer Hickam (2002)
  7. Cover of The Keeper's Son by Homer Hickam, book 1 of the Josh Thurlow series (2003)
  8. Cover of The Ambassador's Son by Homer Hickam, book 2 of the Josh Thurlow series (2005)
  9. Cover of The Far Reaches by Homer Hickam, book 3 of the Josh Thurlow series (2007)
  10. Cover of Red Helmet by Homer Hickam (2008)
  11. Cover of The Dinosaur Hunter by Homer Hickam (2010)
  12. Cover of My Dream of Stars by Homer Hickam (2010)
  13. Cover of Crater by Homer Hickam, book 1 of the Helium-3 series (2012)
  14. Cover of Crescent by Homer Hickam, book 2 of the Helium-3 series (2013)
  15. Cover of From Rocket Boys to October Sky by Homer Hickam (2013)
  16. Cover of Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company by Homer Hickam, book 3 of the Helium-3 series (2014)
  17. Cover of Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam (2015)
  1. 1
    Torpedo Junction1989 · 367 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989367
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Rocket Boys1998 · 368 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Back to the Moon1999 · 447 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999447
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Coalwood Way2000 · 318 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2000318
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Sky of Stone2001 · 365 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2001365
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    We Are Not Afraid2002 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Keeper's SonJosh Thurlow #12003 · 353 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003353
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Ambassador's SonJosh Thurlow #22005 · 337 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005337
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Far ReachesJosh Thurlow #32007 · 314 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2007314
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Red Helmet2008 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2008352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Dinosaur Hunter2010 · confirmed 1/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    My Dream of Stars2010 · 234 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2010234
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    CraterHelium-3 #12012 · confirmed 1/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Paco2012 · 74 pages · confirmed 1/4
    201274
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    CrescentHelium-3 #22013 · 328 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013328
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    From Rocket Boys to October Sky2013 · 110 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013110
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue CompanyHelium-3 #32014 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2014336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Carrying Albert Home2015 · 398 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2015398
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    A Most Unwelcome Adventure2016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky2021 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2021256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Homer Hickam books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Josh Thurlow in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Keeper's Son
  2. 2. The Ambassador's Son
  3. 3. The Far Reaches

Helium-3 in order

3 books
  1. 1. Crater
  2. 2. Crescent
  3. 3. Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company

Standalone books

14 books

14 Homer Hickam titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Homer Hickam books in order?

You only need to read Homer Hickam books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Homer Hickam

Start with Torpedo Junction (1989), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Homer Hickam book?

Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky (2021) is the newest Homer Hickam book released so far.

Is there a new Homer Hickam book coming?

No next Homer Hickam book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Homer Hickam at a glance

Paused
No new Homer Hickam title has appeared for 5 years. The last was published in 2021.
Release pace
Homer Hickam books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
5,199 pages across the 17 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 336 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Homer Hickam books, 9 of 20, were published in the 2010s.

What the Homer Hickam books are about

17 of the 20 Homer Hickam books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: world war, 1939-1945 is tagged on 4 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.