Homer Hickam served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, where he won the Army Commendation and Bronze Star medals. In addition to a best-selling author, Hickam has been a coal miner, scuba instructor, and NASA engineer. His second book, Rocket Boys: A Memoir, was translated into eight languages, was a National Book Critics Circle-nominee as Best Biography of 1998, and was the basis for the critically-acclaimed film October Sky. He is also the author of the novel Back to the Moon, the memoirs The Coalwood Way y Sky of Stone, and the inspirational We Are Not Afraid: Strength and Courage from the Town That Inspired the #1 Bestseller and Award-Winning Movie October Sky, as well as a fictional WWII series and two series of Young Adult books. Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator (William Morrow) is his funny, sweet, and sometimes tragic tale of a young couple and a special alligator on a crazy 1,000-mile adventure.