Miss riley is a chemistry and physics teacher at big creek high school. The boys lived in a town dominated by the coal mining industry, a career that loomed over them like a. What obstacles did the boys in october sky have to face. Another important person in october sky was freida riley, sonnys science teacher. But he did not get to play his senior year because of something that had happened the. See all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. This was the movie version of the book rocket boys, written by homer hickam.
Our own printable literature summaries will provide you with a concise, yet detailed summary of the title you are studying and offer you additional insight into your comprehension of the this novel including detailed chapter. This is the true story that inspired the feature film october sky. Faced with an uncertain future, homer hickam nurtured a dream. Many schools from fifth grade to college are studying rocket boysoctober sky in their classrooms, including english, math, and science classes. October sky is based on the lives of four young men who grew up in coalwood, west virginia. The coal mining was where coalwood the name, was created from. But jim gets a football scholarship, and homer becomes interested in rocket science after seeing sputnik 1 crossing the sky. I dont honestly know why, but here are the similarities and differences between the book october sky name changed from rocket boys and october sky, the movie. Dec 30, 2015 october sky by homer hickam in chm, fb2, rtf download e book. Coalwood is a very simple mining town as described in the book. Plot of october sky immanuel kim climax they continue to make more complex rockets with the help of their science teacher, miss riley. In october, news of the soviet unions rocket launch of sputnik 1 reaches coalwood. October sky is the story of a a group of young enthusiasts whose ambition revives an industrial town in decline. In this short opening section, hickam sketches out the arc of his book.
Story diagram rising action the rising action is when sputnik is launched by the russians, homer hickam was then inspired to launch his own rocket into outer space. The story told in joe johnnys film october sky 1999 is a beautiful one and a true one. John disapproves of his sons new mania, but homer begins building rockets with the help of friends and a sympathetic teacher laura dern. Filled with symbolism, october sky is in some ways the story not only of the space race, but also of many young boys who had their dreams set free by the possibilities of. Analysis of october sky essay 802 words 4 pages living above ground the inspirational true story of homer hickam in october sky reminds us all to strive for our goals and never give up, even in the face of adversity. Interesting that october sky the name of the movie is an anagram of rocket boys the name of the book the original name anyway. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. October sky is set in coalwood in mcdowell county, west virginia, usa in the year 1957. Jim hickman is the brother to sonny and the son to elsie and homer hickman. 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.
She inspires the rocket boys to compete in the national science fair. In order to celebrate sonny and the other rocket boys, they decide to launch off the last of their rockets. He starts saying that the movie is setback during the space race between the united states and the soviet union when the soviets launched. The last chapter of october sky has sonny back in town and the strike largely finished. 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. October sky is a 1999 american biographical drama film directed by joe johnston and starring jake gyllenhaal, chris cooper, chris owen, and laura dern. Chapter one talked about coalwood and how it has come along. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in rocket boys, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Each family lived on a small plot of land owned by the company. Monkeynotes online study guide book notes summary for. I find they teach us many lesson through their experiences.
Like giving them a book on rocketry, and showing them new materials for rocket fuel to name a few. Homer hickams memoir, october sky, tells the story of how he got started building. Rocket boys october sky by homer hickam monkeynotes. 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 it also comes to the end of his high school career.
One of the main themes and perhaps the most obvious is the inspiring idea of chasing ones dream and never giving up until success is found. Rocket boys study guide from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Unlike homer hickam, the hero of october sky, i didnt go on to become a. It was originally published under the title rocket boys in 1998. 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. Most of the film was shot in rural east tennessee, including oliver springs, harriman and kingston in morgan and roane counties.
The movie october sky deals with a lot of themes that still exist in societies all over the world today. As the townspeople gather outside the night of the broadcast, they see the satellite orbit across the sky. October sky teacher guide by novel units paperback june 14, 2012. 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.
When universal made the movie, however, they changed quite a bit. 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. In the town of coalwood people are expected to live or do certain things. Each house had a fencedoff square of yard, but sonnys, being larger, enabled elsie, sonnys mother, to plant a rose garden. Homer hickam was a teenage boy from a mining town in west virginia called coalwood. Chapter 1 starts with an introduction to coalwood, and parts of sonnys life within the book. The boys lived in a town dominated by the coal mining industry, a career that loomed over them like a dark shadow. Chapterbychapter october sky summary rocket boys by.
Others were big twostory duplexes, built as boardinghouses for bachelor miners in the. 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. Traver briefly describes the plot and summary of the movie which provides a good insight about the movie for readers. October sky tells the story of a young boy growing up in coal mining town during the beginnings of the space race. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of rocket boys by homer hickam. I first came across this book after watching the film october sky, that is based on the book. She inspires sonny to enter the science fair and gives him a book on how to build better rockets. By learning to build rockets, he explains, he discovered his own truths. In the end, homer ends up winning it which greatly encourages. The true story, originally published as rocket boys, that inspired the universal pictures film. Learn october sky with free interactive flashcards. 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. Monkeynotes study guides download storedownloadable study guidesbook summary,book notes,notes,chapter summarysynopsis. October sky, originally published as rocket boys, tells the story of how the author decided to build rockets as a high school student in coalwood, west virginia.
The movie received a positive critical reception and is still celebrated in the regions of its setting and filming. October sky synopsis favorite theater button overview. October sky the title on the mass market movie tiein version of the bestselling the rocket boys is the first memoir in a series of four, by homer hickam jr. Jimmy odell carroll is small and excitable, the most emotional member of the group.
October sky free pdf, chm, fb2, rtf free download ebook. It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boys pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. Climax when homer and his friends who make the bcma, or big creek missle agency get really good at building rockets and have a firm grip rocketbuilding, homer explains and demonstrates rockets at the science fair. This means, among other things, that sonnys brother is not going to be able to get a football scholarship and will. It was 1957, the year sputnik raced across the appalachian sky, and the small town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying. I was really enthusiastic to watch this movie, because i love to watch movies based on true stories. Rich in sweet sincerity, intelligence, and good oldfashioned inspirational drama, october sky is a comingofage story with a heart to match its hollywood. October sky teacher guide novel unit by novel units, inc. October sky marion eady the film october sky 1999, directed by joe johnson is based on a true story of homer hickman a coal miners son who is inspired to build a rocket after the russian launch of the first artificial satellite sputnik into orbit. The leader of the coalwood miners union, john dubonnet quarrels with homer sr.
The coal mine is the heart of the small town and its largest employer. Everyone in town and a lot of other towns come to see the rockets. Our own printable literature summaries will provide you with a concise, yet detailed summary of the title you are studying and offer you additional insight into your comprehension of the this novel including detailed chapter summaries and notes, setting. 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. October sky, by homer hiram, was published in 1999. Jan 17, 2012 october sky is set in coalwood in mcdowell county, west virginia, usa in the year 1957. Rocketry, he hopes, will prove his ticket to a better life. Nearly all the men of the town and their sons work there, at some point in their lives. Rocket boys is a bildungsromana coming of age story. The film definitely focuses on the course theme of being a social outcast. It is october 1957 and the ussr has launched sputnik 1, the first satellite. He enlists the help of three friends in his endeavour.
Thanks to their teacher miss riley laura dern, homer hickam jake gyllenhaal and his high school friends peer up into the clear sky over their tiny west virginia coal mining town to see its tiny spark drift across the stars. This article will give you a chapter by chapter october sky summary. This is an adult book, but it is told from a young mans point of view. In a small town in west virginia a 17yearold boy, homer hickam, is fascinated by this development and is determined to build and launch his own rocket. Like the hero of october sky, i remember the shock that ran through america when the russians launched sputnik on oct. Homer hickam, the man whose life became the basis of the film october sky, takes us through some of his inspiring accomplishments. The town was built on the rich coal deep underground. Important people, mindsets, and events in october sky coal. Like this is our monkeynotes downloadable and printable book summary study guide booknotes synopsis analysis for rocket boys october sky by homer hickam in pdf format. I, too, grew up in a rural area on a dirt road in the woods of nh. It was 1957, and the small mining town of coalwood, west virginia, was slowly dying.
An evaluation of the novel october sky by homer hickam, using the pit stop principles from first trimester reading. What obstacles did the boys in october sky have to face to. Coalwood pages 116 in the beginning of this book you have an average boy living in a coal mining town. I was especially surprised to discover that the book and movie came out somewhat simultaneously, and how this all happened. 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. The movie that they show in science class every single year. I thought the film was amazing but this is even better. The movie october sky is a heart moving story about homer hickam who was inspired to build a rocket and never gave up until his dreams became true. Timesaving, inspiring lesson plans provide a compreh. Overall, october sky is a story about learning to believe in yourself and to persevere. Exploring the mysteries of the night sky through jakes telescope has only served to add fuel to sonnys rocketbuilding fire when we pick up.
The proper title of the book, however, is and always shall be rocket boys. 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. With jake gyllenhaal, chris cooper, laura dern, chris owen. If you like memoirs, books about the space race or the 50s i predict you will love rocket boys and from rocket boys to october sky. Choose from 500 different sets of october sky flashcards on quizlet. They make 1st place in the state science fair and homer is elected to attend the national science fair. The book talks about the attributes of coalwood and the people who live there. Vocabulary from the whole book october sky previously known as rocket boys by homer sonny hickam.
Today, it is one of the most often picked community. How the classic memoir rocket boys was written and the hit movie october sky was made by homer hickam sep 20, 20 4. The structure for lifting, sorting, and dumping the coal was called the tipple. Chapters 16 october sky october sky october sky, or. Can you describe the setting in the movie october sky. 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. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. In the book october sky, the boys had many obstacles to overcome. She gives sonny a book called principles of guided missile design that is extremely useful to the rocket boys in the future.
Coalwood was described with mountains surrounding the town with many coal deposits inside of them. Weatherford award in 1998, the year of its release. John hickam chris cooper is a west virginia coal miner who loves his job and expects his sons, jim scott miles and homer jake gyllenhaal, to follow in his footsteps. Though his book october sky ends in june 1960 with the final launch of his big creek missile agency. The four teenage boys homer hickman, question wilson, roy lee cooke, and sherman odell are. The main conflict is when homers father has the idea that homer will. Sonnys father, homer, is the superintendent of that mine, which means he. Rocket boys, perhaps best known as the book that inspired the movie october sky, is a heartwarming comingofage memoir about a group of boys who dreamt of the future in a town that had very little future to dream about. October sky is set in 1957, when the soviet union launched sputnik, the first manmade orbiting satellite. The character of john dubonnet in rocket boys from litcharts.