The book october sky characters

Two years later he would play the title character in 2001s donnie darko, going on to star in bubble boy, the good girl, moonlight mile. Discover and share quotes from october sky characters. Many schools from fifth grade to college are studying rocket boysoctober sky in their classrooms, including english, math, and science classes. He grew up in the small west virginian coal mining town of coalwood. The reason he has a car was from a company settlement that went on before the book. A major video chain i despise has a sign next to this film stating that youll love this film or theyll refund your money. 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. Sonny, after seeing the russian satellite sputnik, decides to join the american team of rocket engineers called the missile agency when he graduates from school.

This readers group guide for homer hickams october skyrocket boys is designed to. Jim hickman is the brother to sonny and the son to elsie and homer hickman. These convenient lessons and quizzes can benefit anyone who needs to refresh their. Another important person in october sky was freida riley, sonnys science teacher. The space race was the ultimate competition between the united states. The character of john dubonnet in rocket boys from. In october, news of the soviet unions rocket launch of sputnik 1 reaches coalwood. Turner reverend little richard reverend josiah lanier jim hickam william laird john dubonnet mr. For the film producers felt having two characters named homer would. In october sky, ike bykovski, a character who was a composite of real miners hickam knew, died in a mine accident after helping homer with his rockets. 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. Rocket boys by homer hickham jr, is the story of homer when he was a young man just getting his start in rocket building. Explore our collection of motivational and famous quotes by authors you know and love. Riley the rocket boys get a book on the math and science behind the flight of rockets.

Originally titled the rocket boys when hickam wrote it in 1998, the book can also be found under the title october sky which was released in conjunction with the movie tiein in 1999. In the memoir october sky, the character, homer hickam, shows lots of different emotions. With the help of his friends, roy lee cooke william lee scott and sherman odell chad lindberg, and support from their science teacher, miss riley laura. Eye in the sky reflectionin the 2015 movie, eye in the sky, there are several examples of ethical reasoning by the characters depicted. The book is dedicated to mom and dad and the people of coalwood. 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. Interesting that october sky the name of the movie is an anagram of rocket boys the name of the book the original name anyway. Chapterbychapter summaries of october sky rocket boys. This summer, you are expected to read october sky by homer hickam and complete this.

Who are the main characters in october sky answers. Analysis of october sky essay examples download free or. October skies is another exceptional thriller from alex scarrow, he is book by book establishing himself as one of the best thriller writers around. In homer hickams book, october sky and the film adaptation by joe johnstun, the main character sonny hickam is portrayed differently. Coalwood was described with mountains surrounding the town with many coal deposits inside of them. The book has been republished under the same name as the film. The coal mining was where coalwood the name, was created from. The true story, originally published asrocket boys, that inspired the universal pictures film. 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. She gives sonny a book called principles of guided missile design that is extremely useful to the rocket boys in the future. At the same time, he enthusiastically supports homer s experiments with rockets, and even gives him some useful advice about how to prepare rocket fuel and design rocket casings.

October sky 1999 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. After that, sonny enlists the help of quentin wilson, roy lee cooke, sherman siers, jimmy odell carroll, and billy rose to help. In 1999, universal made a movie entitled october sky. One of the rocket boys he is disabled with a shorter left leg he works as the superintendent in the. Sonny couldnt achieve his dreams of building a rocket without his. Riley is very much apart of the rocket boys success. Jimmy odell carroll is sonnys best friend, and one of the founding members of the bcma. May 08, 2018 rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this time micah reads.

Why was the movie called october sky instead of the book s title, rocket boys. Roy lee is certainly sonnys best friend in homer hickams memoir october sky. I thought the film was amazing but this is even better. The easiest of the symbols in october sky to recognize is the symbolism of the rockets. A numberone new york times bestseller in mass market, brought to the screen in the acclaimed film october sky, homer hickams memoir, nominated for the national book critics circle award, comes to trade paperback with an allnew photo insert. October sky is the first memoir in a series of four, by homer hickam jr. This article will give you a chapter by chapter october sky summary. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters including laura dern as an inspiring schoolteacher, october sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when the final frontier beckoned to the explorer in all of us. Handwrite answers to characters and terms, vocabulary, and study guide.

October sky is a memoir by homer hickam, and it details his love for rocketry as a young man during the space race. 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. The leader of the coalwood miners union, john dubonnet quarrels with homer sr. List some of the books sonny enjoyed reading during his childhood. It takes place in coalwood, west virginia in the nineteen fifties and sixties. In october sky, ike bykovski, a character who was a composite of real miners hickam knew. Hes often responsible for obtaining materials for the. This causes a source of friction between father and son. Important people, mindsets, and events in october sky coal. Chapter one talked about coalwood and how it has come along. The boys lived in a town dominated by the coal mining industry, a career that loomed over them like a dark shadow. She inspires the rocket boys to compete in the national science fair. It was 1957, the year sputnik raced across the appalachian sky, and the small town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying.

She inspires sonny to enter the science fair and gives him a book on how to build better rockets. October sky character analysis october sky is a movie about how a hillbilly accomplished his dream of building rockets and got out from the falling mining hometown named coalwood. In the book rocket boys, the main character is always called sonny. October sky summer reading packet sullivan county schools. The book was then republished as october sky shortly afterwards. October sky is a 1999 american biographical drama film directed by joe johnston and starring jake gyllenhaal, chris cooper, chris owen, and laura dern. Dec 16, 2009 october sky, by homer hiram, was published in 1999. He was with sonny for most of his life as he had been in coalwood with. October sky was followed by the coalwood way 2000, sky of stone 2002, and carrying albert home 2015. October baby quotes rocket boys quotes october sky book quotes blue october quotes funny october quotes the sky is everywhere quotes quotes about october abraham lincoln quotes albert einstein. They are faced with a difficult decision as a high value target is found and the opportunity arises to take them out by use of a drone. The young narrator and protagonist of rocket boys, homer hickam, jr. Hes often responsible for obtaining materials for the bcmas rocket designs, and while his schemes often fail, hes responsible for many important rocket supplies.

During the course of the book, homer, inspired by read full character analysis. October skies by alex scarrow goodreads share book. This made sonny jealous, so he decided to do something to impress his parents and be better than his brother. Originally titled the rocket boys, the book was renamed in 1999.

Rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this time micah reads. Rocket boys was made into a film in 1999, titled october sky an anagram of rocket boys. The movie is taken from an autobiographical novel by homer h. I first came across this book after watching the film october sky, that is based on the book. This is the true story that inspired the feature film october sky. Using the book the boys learn how to make their rockets better in all areas. Although i was a teenager more than a decade later than hickam was, some of the things he wrote about hit close to home. 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 but misguided group know as the football fathers. 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. Rocket boys characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Homer hickam, the man whose life became the basis of the film october sky, takes us through some of his inspiring accomplishments.

In homer hickams autobiographical october sky, miss freida riley does all of these things and more for homer, aka sonny, and the rest of the rocket boys in. Rocket boys have you ever read a book and later watched the movie version only to find out that they are completely different. Bykovski, the miner who helped him with his rocket. It is also available in abridged audio book, electronic book, large print, and is a readers digest condensed book.

As the townspeople gather outside the night of the broadcast, they see the satellite orbit across the sky. What else do we know about this character in homer hickams october sky. Many schools from fifth grade to college are studying rocket boys october sky in their classrooms, including english, math, and science classes. Sonny wants to build rockets, homer wants his son to work in the mine. Step by step, with the help and occasional hindrance of a collection of unforgettable characters, the boys learn not only how to turn scrap into sophisticated. 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. In the book october sky, the boys had many obstacles to overcome. This was the movie version of the book rocket boys, written by homer hickam.

Rocket boys characters from litcharts the creators of. Rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this. The character of john dubonnet in rocket boys from litcharts. Filled with awe and a belief that this may be his chance out of coalwood, homer sets out to build rockets of his own and enter the science fair. The true story was published in1998, its about a boy and his. When universal made the movie, however, they changed quite a. You can use this course to supplement your textbooks, get extra. 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. I, too, grew up in a rural area on a dirt road in the woods of nh. It was originally published under the title rocket boys in 1998.

Coalwood is a very simple mining town as described in the book. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. An evaluation of the novel october sky by homer hickam, using the pit stop principles from first trimester reading. One of the most beloved bestsellers in recent years, rocket boys is a uniquely american memoir. You can get some information from october sky 1999. Rocket boysoctober sky by homer hickam if you are a 14yearold boy living in a west virginia mining town in the 1950s, your horizon is defined by the age worn appalachian peaks enclosing your valley. Well ive found a way to train yourself into knowing how they meant to say it, you read a book and you try to identify the emotions of the characters. The title of the paperback released at the same time was changed to the movie title, which is an anagram of rocket boys take the letters of rocket boys and move them around to spell october sky. Not sure about the reading level but you can find a wealth of information on the characters, setting etc, from. Rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this time. October sky is a charming tale and the boys success is inspiring. What obstacles did the boys in october sky have to. Immediately download the october sky summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching october sky.

Access this study guide chapter at any time to study characters and quotes from the book october sky. Faced with an uncertain future, homer hickam nurtured a dream. October sky 1999 plot summary 4 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. October sky study guide course online video lessons. He is the son of the mines superintendent, and has very different plans for his future then his father does. Powered by create your own unique website with customizable templates. Homer hickam, the main character of the movie, would never succeed in his rocket dream without the extraordinary inspiration and encouragement from miss riley. It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boys. Like the hero of october sky, i remember the shock that ran through america when the russians launched sputnik on oct. It was 1957, and the small mining town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying. The book talks about the attributes of coalwood and the people who live there. Miss riley is a chemistry and physics teacher at big creek high school.