Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam (the father of the author) were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie's dreams of a life with him were crushed and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields,...

Crater and the Lunar Rescue Company have to rescue Maria Medaris, Crater's ex-girlfriend, who is being held hostage by green-lipped, gene-splicing scientists. The planet Earth, meanwhile, is in the crosshairs of an asteroid engineered by Maria's abductors. If Crater cannot stop the asteroid, Earth will be destroyed.

True story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.