An october sky book characters

Hickam is such a good writer, and although the book is based on their rocketary adventures, its all interesting, from his. It was 1957, and the small mining town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying. What else do we know about this character in homer hickams october sky. Jim hickman is the brother to sonny and the son to elsie. The main character is homer hickam, a boy who becomes passionate about going into space after he hears about the soviet sputnik satellitethe first one in space. Not only did that tiny satellite strike fear into many americans hearts, but it also motivated president kennedy and nasa to reach the moon first, thus paving the way for the heroics of legendary astronauts such. I thought the film was amazing but this is even better. When he was in high school the captain saw him as a prodege and was trained.

While i listened to the beeping, i had this mental image of russian highschool kids lifting the sputnik and putting it in place on top of a big, sleek rocket. Hickam is such a good writer, and although the book is based on their rocketary adventures, its all interesting, from his antics in school, to his strained family relationship. October skies by alex scarrow meet your next favorite book. Valentine carmina is an older girl who likes sonny. October sky characters cast list of characters from october sky. When universal made the movie, however, they changed quite a bit.

An introduction to the town of coalwood, this chapter begins by explaining that the town. Although i was a teenager more than a decade later than hickam was, some of the things he wrote about hit close to home. October sky summer reading packet sullivan county schools. October sky 1999 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Chapterbychapter october sky summary rocket boys by. October sky is a charming tale and the boys success is inspiring. During the course of the book, homer, inspired by read full character analysis homer hickam sr.

You can get some information from october sky 1999. After that, sonny enlists the help of quentin wilson, roy lee cooke, sherman siers, jimmy odell carroll, and billy rose to help. Important people, mindsets, and events in october sky. The story is that of homer hickham jr, or sonny as he is known in the story, and. He 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. Jim hickam is sonnys older brother who plays for the schools football team. Author homer hickam talks differences in rocket boys and film october sky updated jan, 2019.

Jim hickman is the brother to sonny and the son to elsie and homer hickman. For a large section of the book, sonny ignores her, because she started a relationship with his brother jim. I, too, grew up in a rural area on a dirt road in the woods of nh. Miss freida riley is the dedicated high school chemistry teacher who goes above and beyond in her classes in october sky. Jim hickman is the brother to sonny and the son to. From escaping the mines of coalwood, west virginia by learning rocketry to becoming a nasa engineer, he speaks about a career which eventually added the title of bestselling author to the mix.

He is the son of the mines superintendent, and has very different plans for his future then his father does. Jimmy odell carroll is small and excitable, the most emotional member of the group. List of october sky characters, including pictures when available. The rocket boys quotes below are all either spoken by elsie lavender hickam or refer to elsie lavender hickam. Jim and sonny are not close as brothers at the time the novel takes place, they simply coexist in the same household. Rocket boys by homer hickham jr, is the story of homer when he was a young man just getting his start in rocket building. Know that this assignment will be 20% of your first nineweeks grade.

The coal mining was where coalwood the name, was created from. Sonnys science teacher, miss riley, when she gives sonny the book principles of guided missile design. Dorothy plunk character analysis in rocket boys litcharts. October sky is a simple, but heartfelt tale about homer h. October sky characters cast list of characters from. Hickam admits to taking poetic license in combining characters and with the sequence of. I dont honestly know why, but here are the similarities and differences between the book october sky name changed from rocket boys and. Miss riley, when she gives sonny the book principles of guided missile design. With the soviet unions launching of sputnik 1 on october 4, 1957, the great space race that dominated the 1960s and beyond began. Rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this. But he did not get to play his senior year because of something that had happened the year before involving his dad, and a well meaning. Coalwood was described with mountains surrounding the town with many coal deposits inside of them.

Sullivan central high school instructions this summer, you are expected to read october sky by homer hickam and complete this summer reading packet. In the book october sky, the bcma is the social club formed by sonny and his friends to experiment with making rockets and trying to figure out what causes them to fly. What obstacles did the boys in october sky have to face to. The true story of homer hickam, a coal miners son who was inspired by the first sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his fathers wishes. I first came across this book after watching the film october sky, that is based on the book.

The true story, originally published as rocket boys, that inspired the universal pictures film. With jake gyllenhaal, chris cooper, laura dern, chris owen. These characters from october sky are ordered by their significance to the film, so main characters are featured at the top while minor characters and cameos are further down on the list. You will find a rubric on the last page of this packet that will guide you in how this assignment will be scored. Aug 16, 2010 i bet your one of those types that complains when your neighbors stereo is too loud, then when you turn yours up you get mad when your told to turn it down, maybe you like to cut someone off on the road, but then when someone else does you road rage and tailgate them until they get out of your way. October sky is the first memoir in a series of four, by american engineer homer hickam jr. What obstacles did the boys in october sky have to face.

This was the movie version of the book rocket boys, written by homer hickam. Rocket boys october sky characters flashcards quizlet. October sky is a 1999 american biographical drama film directed by joe johnston and starring jake gyllenhaal, chris cooper, chris owen, and laura dern. Although i did not like this novel what the characters accomplished while. Jim is a spectacular athlete and a ladies man, much unlike his younger brother. The book has been republished under the same name as the film. For the film producers felt having two characters named homer would confuse. Hickman, a man who i never knew existed prior to this films release. Coalwood is a very simple mining town as described in the book. Later editions were published as october sky as a tiein to the 1999 film adaptation it is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boys pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. I really feel that homers book helps us to look not only up, but also to the future. The response to the article was overwhelming and hickam was offered both a book and movie deal, leading to the full length memoir, rocket boys of which the subsequent title october sky is an angrarm, and was followed by the coalwood way 2000 and sky of stone 2002.

Like the hero of october sky, i remember the shock that ran through america when the russians launched sputnik on oct. The movie is taken from an autobiographical novel by homer h. Like giving them a book on rocketry, and showing them new materials for rocket fuel to name a few. Handwrite answers to characters and terms, vocabulary, and study guide. Homer grew up in a small town, but dreams to live a life better. Many schools from fifth grade to college are studying rocket boysoctober sky in their classrooms, including english, math, and science classes. October skies is another exceptional thriller from alex scarrow, he is book by book establishing himself as one of the best thriller writers around.

This is the true story that inspired the feature film october sky. Sonny is a dynamic character, changing much throughout the novel. In the book october sky, the boys had many obstacles to overcome. Jim hickam sonnys older brother by a little over a year. Homer hickam, the man whose life became the basis of the film october sky, takes us through some of his inspiring accomplishments. Quentin wilson is the most intelligent member of the rocket boys and the person who does figures out most of the math in the group.

It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boys pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. Elsie hickman sherman the mother of homer hickman she was loving and caring she wanted more for homer so she did not want him to work in the mine like his father homer hickman sr. It was 1957, the year sputnik raced across the appalachian sky, and the small town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying. Otherwise, despite its based on a true story opening credit, this earnest, nostalgic film has a way of seeming too good to be true. The reason he has a car was from a company settlement that went on before the book. Posted jul 23, 2014 reel vs real, october sky and rocket boys 7. They wouldnt care if you lived in a governors mansion. Hes often responsible for obtaining materials for the bcmas rocket. The young narrator and protagonist of rocket boys, homer hickam, jr. Another important person in october sky was freida riley, sonnys science teacher. This readers group guide for homer hickams october skyrocket boys is.

During the course of the book, homer, inspired by read full character analysis the father of homer hickam jr. Unlike homer hickam, the hero of october sky, i didnt go on to become a nasa. Homer who is called sonny by everybody he knows is the main character, and the story is told by him, looking back on his time in high school and on his experience building rockets at that time. He grew up in the small west virginian coal mining town of coalwood.

The timeline below shows where the character dorothy plunk appears in. Faced with an uncertain future, homer hickam nurtured a dream. Rocket boys take the letters of rocket boys and move them around to spell october sky. Miss riley is such an influence on sonny that he gives her the gold medal. Rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this time. Interesting that october sky the name of the movie is an anagram of rocket boys the name of the book the original name anyway. An evaluation of the novel october sky by homer hickam, using the pit stop principles from first trimester reading. I have been a fan of homer hickam since a teacher showed us october sky in. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one.

The book talks about the attributes of coalwood and the people who live there. Elsie lavender hickam character analysis in rocket boys. Weatherford award in 1998, the year of its release. May 08, 2018 29 videos play all the best october sky audiobook micah reads rocket boys october sky chapter 11 with special guest, water sprayer guy duration. This is an adult book, but it is told from a young mans point of view. Roy lee is certainly sonnys best friend in homer hickams memoir october sky. Chapter one talked about coalwood and how it has come along. It received so much acclaim and interest, he was asked to write a book detailing the whole story. One of the rocket boys he is disabled with a shorter left leg he works as the superintendent in the. Later editions were published as october sky as a tiein to the 1999 film adaptation.