Rocket Boys

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Summary: A Book You Will Want to Read Repeatedly !!! (Paciotti 4th)
Review: This inspirational memoir tells the true story of Homer (Sonny) Hickam's high school years in Coalwood, West Virginia . With meticulous details, likable characters, and a constantly intriguing plot, Hickam narrates the challenging journey of rocket-builiding that he shares with his friends, the Rocket Boys. The group forms a rocket-building club, the BMCA, and teaches themselves to make and launch rockets. This is amazing because in the 1950's, the only rocket ever successfully launched was Sputnik. Homer experiences many coming-of-age challenges throughout the novel. He narrates that his father and brother view him as an outcast. Also, he faces rejection from a girl that he loves. Another challenge involves the obstacles that the mining company places on his rocket group. They are discouraged from building rockets by the company.

The boys in the club include: Sherman, O'Dell, Sonny, Quentin, and Roy Lee. They all share the same dream of becoming famous for their rockets and being able to leave Coalwood and go to college. Several people help them meet this goal, including: Miss Riley, a chemistry teacher, Mrs. Hickam, and several of the engineers at the Coalwood mining company. With the help of family and friends, the boys enter and win the county science fair. They also win the state and national fairs. This is an inspirational feat from five boys from a tiny mining town in West Virginia. The boys all go to college, and three of them, Sonny included, become engineers.

In conclusion, if you want an inspirational, interesting, and true novel to lift your spirits, October Sky is a good book to read.

In conclusion

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Summary: Hickam, not Hickman!!!!!
Review: This is one of the best books of the last and the new century and many, many reviewers see fit to praise it. But, folks, the author's name is Hickam, not Hickman!!! If you like him, let's get his name straight. In fact, in The Coalwood Way and Sky of Stone, Hickam makes much out of the fact that his dad hated that his name was forever misspelled. I suspect Homer Hickam the author feels exactly the same way.

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Summary: Science, history, and coming of age--all in a great book!
Review: If all Hickman had done was give us a portrait of life and growing up in an Appalacian coal mining town in the 50's, this would be a great book. But Hickman uses this setting as the foundation of a much larger story...the race to space, the revolution in America caused by Sputnick, and the opening of small towns accross America to the wider world with the advent of mass communications.

Of course, at base, this is a typical coming of age teen story. During the course of the book, we watch as Hickman grows from a self centered kid into a teen with an accute awareness of the complexity, moral choices, and dangers of the world beyond the borders of his hometown--and of the dangers lurking right at home.

But Homer Hickman is no ordinary teen. He dreams of space. He knows he is destined to build rockets--though he knows absolutely nothing of rocketry, and is failing algebra. Nonetheless, he perseveres. Using his own natrual smarts, his ability to talk his parents, other adults, and many of his friends into anything, and using his "political" connections shrewdly (his father is the mine manager), he overcomes all hurdles--technological and personal--to build a rocket that works.

He doesn't stop there. Once he gets a rocket to fly, he wants to get one into orbit. It is this quest (reminiscent of so many other quest books form Don Quixote to Moby Dick) that forms the center piece of the narrative, and is the engine for opening his mind to the realities of the world beyond his coal mining town.

Needless to say, since he wrote the book, he obviously escaped. The journey is inspiring. The writing inspired. The book is a must read for adults and teens alike.

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Summary: A Slow read - because you want to soak it all in!
Review: This book grabbed me very quickly. Almost with a "Stand By Me" quality, we find ourselves drawn into the life of the author as a young man. His rich descriptions of his friends, parents, and boyhood town, make you feel as if you are living the story too. Even though I was born a generation after Hickam, his recall meshes with that of my own father's in a bygone era. The book leaves you longing for a simpler past all the while making you thankful you live in the present. I would have had a lot more reverence for those Estes model rocket engines if I had known this story as a boy. Rarely have I enjoyed a book more for its sensitive, descriptive, and quality character development. Read the book first before watching the movie. B.C.

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Summary: What forces shape destiny?
Review: In life, many things will affect the things people do, the things they will become. People around them, like family and friends, influence the actions and decisions that people make. In the book October Sky, by Homer Hickam, these things are evident. Coalwood, West Virginia, where Homer grew up, was the right environment for the cultivation of his talents, making it possible for him to do all the amazing things he did.
The mine of Coalwood was an important part of Homer's success. Coalwood revolved around the mine. Coalwood had risen around the mine. It was the reason Coalwood even existed. The people of Coalwood were shaped by the mine, and their lifestyles were all determined by the mine. Without the mine, none of Homer's exploits would have been possible.
Homer's family was inextricably tied to the mine, more so than most other families. Homer's father's position as head of the mine kept him constantly busy. The few times when he was home, he was constantly interrupted by having to run to answer the black phone that never seemed to give the Hickams any peace at all. Homer's father did not care very much about Homer. He ignored him completely, except to cast disapproving glares in his direction. He certainly did not support Homer in his rocket-building, and did all he could to convince Homer to come to the mine and to stop working on things he considered useless. He even went so far as to bring Homer into the mine and show him around, though that did nothing to alter Homer's plans for his own future. Homer's father's repression and animosity served to harden Homer's conviction, testing him, and making him more steadfast in his ideals. Without strength, Homer could not have jumped some of the hurdles that arose before him, such as the failure of most of his earlier rockets.
Homer's mother, Elsie Hickam, was the force that began Homer's rocket building. She knew that Homer's father would not pay Homer through college without a very good reason, and she had sworn that she would get both of her boys out of Coalwood. Jim Hickam could easily obtain a scholarship with his football skills, but Homer did not have much to offer any college. And so Elsie nudged Homer into the direction she wanted him to go, allowing him to do things other people would have balked at. Without his mother's support and strength, he would never have gotten past blowing up his mother's fence.
Miss Riley, Homer's teacher, was the one who kept Homer going when he felt as if he could not. There were times when the entire world seemed to be trying to haul Homer down, end their rocket building, and thereby extinguish their dreams. But Miss Riley always found a way to pull them back up, either with her cheerful manner or with some discovery that would help them progress further with their rockets. Miss Riley was the one who first introduced them to the science fair, and pushed them to enter it. Without the science fair, Homer could not have gained the education he desired. There were many times when one of Miss Riley's classes would lead them to conclusions furthering their understanding of rockets, such as the time she held a class outside, and demonstrated rapid oxidation, which lead to the BCMA's creation of 'rocket candy'. Also, Miss Riley was the one to make the find that perhaps most aided Homer in rocket creation. Miss Riley bought Homer a book called Principles of Guided Missile Design. With this book, Homer was able to greatly enhance his knowledge of the rockets, showing him how to make important calculations and showed them how to design better rocket nozzles and such. All this was made possible by Miss Riley.
The other people of Coalwood played large parts in Homer's accomplishments. One could think of them as keys to Homer's future. Roy Lee, Sherman, and O'Dell were Homer's friends through thick and thin, never letting him fall low, but never letting him become arrogant either. Quentin symbolizes knowledge. Homer needed knowledge to create rockets and go to college. Without Quentin's knowledge of science and mathematics, Homer could never have come to understand the concepts of rocket-building himself. Mr. Bykovski made the first, most primitive rocket parts for the BCMA, making it possible for them to build and test, learning from their mistakes, gaining experience. When Mr. Bykovski could no longer build for them, the other machinists working for the mine took over. They had the skills and resources to build more complex rocket parts, such as the intricate De 'Laval nozzles. And finally, the rest of the town, who came to watch the boys' rockets fly into the air, showing their support, motivating the boys to keep striving for new heights, literally.
Homer's family, his friends, his neighbors, his schoolmates, people he did not even know, all these meshed together to form the town of Coalwood. And Coalwood, depressing as it was, plagued by all the troubles of the mine and it's battle with the union, was like rich soil, and Homer a small seed. All the components of the soil mesh, like the people of Coalwood, creating a place for the seed, and letting it grow into a plant, or maybe someday even a tree. It is like this with all people. The places they live, the people they know, form soil, or sometimes dirt in which nothing can grow. But unlike a seed, a person has free will, and it is free will that ultimately shapes a man or woman into what they will become.
October Sky is a worthwhile read. It paints the life of Homer Hickam realistically, without embellishment. It shows the struggle of a boy with his family and home that can be applied to anyone's life. The author's writing is concise and to the point, not trying to dazzle the reader with vocabulary. I would recommend it to anyone.

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Summary: October Sky - The Essential Question
Review: In October Sky, a memoir by Homer Hickam Jr, the main character, Sonny (aka Homer) had many influences that affected who he was. These influences acted as forces towards shaping who Sonny was. The forces that shape identity are the people around you, specific events in your life, and the attitude you have towards present situations.
Many people around you shape who you are (as a person) and who you become later on in life. Sonny's parents, Homer and Elsie Hickam, were a major influential factor in his life. His father wanted him to work in the mine and tried to stop him from living his dreams of building rockets and working with Dr. Wernher von Braun (in Cape Canaveral). His mother provided nothing but unconditional encouragement because she wanted Sonny to have a better life than that of a miner. Dr. von Braun was also a major influential factor for Sonny. Sonny wanted to grow up to be like Dr. von Braun. Miss Riley also influenced Sonny; she encouraged him (and the other Rocket Boys) to continue building rockets, showed him new methods of propulsion (rocket fuel), and gave Sonny a book entitled: Principals of Guided Missile Design. The other Rocket Boys, especially Quentin, helped boost Sonny's enthusiasm regarding the research and development of (their) rockets. These and other people significantly helped shape who Sonny was as a teenager and who he was as an adult.
Specific occurrences in life are also a major element in how you turn out as a person. In Sonny's life his rocket career began with the launch of the Russian satellite, Sputnik, followed by the launch of the American satellite, Vanguard. He overcame social prejudices when he asked Quentin, the school "nerd", what he knew about rocket fuels. Quentin came up with black powder (a mix of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur), which later progressed in to more efficient fuels, such as rocket candy (sugar and potassium nitrate melted together) and zincoshine (a combination of a zinc and sulfur compound and moonshine). When Sonny went into the mine with his father, it made his father pleased because he thought Sonny was strongly considering working in the mine as an engineer when he got older. His mother, however, was extremely livid because she wanted him to get out of Coalwood; she knew working in the mine could be life threatening and didn't want her son killed. Along with others, these specific events in Sonny's life contributed to the person he became.
The attitude you have towards the current situation is a key factor in who you become as a person. When Mrs. Hickam told Sonny to build rockets to get out of Coalwood, Sonny took the initiative and began to research and build rockets. This shows positive thinking to the situation at hand. When Mr. Bykovski died in the mine, Sonny felt at fault and depressed because Mr. Bykovski got fired from the "machine shop" (at the mine) for helping Sonny and was transferred to the mine. This shows pessimistic thinking on Sonny's part. Another example of positive thinking was the obstacle of learning calculus. First Sonny and the Rocket Boys petitioned for the class. When the class became available to them, only six people could take it. However seven people signed up and Sonny was unable to take the class because his grades were poor. He overcame this second obstacle by learning calculus from a book of his fathers. Many times the Coalwood Coal Company tried to prevent the Rocket Boys from building more rockets. Due to support from some of the mine workers and Mr. Hickam, the Boys continued to construct and launch rockets, and eventually moved of f company property to build Cape Coalwood.
There are three main forces that shape identity: the people around you, specific events in life, and your attitude towards the present situation. These forces shaped Sonny's life in numerous ways. Therefore, October Sky is a prodigious read. The feelings Sonny experiences throughout the book are those that the reader can relate to, regardless of the situation.

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Summary: Excellent Read
Review: This book is an interesting look into the life of Homer Hickam Jr. I recommend it to all who like reading biographies and historical books.

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Summary: What Forces Shape Identity?
Review: When asked the question what forces shape identity, what automatically comes to mind is the people and activities that you surround yourself with. In the novel October Sky, Homer Hickam is surrounded by his family and friends daily. He grows up in a small, isolated town called Coalwood. Him and five other boys spend their high school years in a field blasting off rockets. But as they would say, they were just chasing their dreams. The people you surround yourself with have an influence on everything you do. You act and live your life a certain way because of who you're around.
In Homer's situation his family had a major impact on his life. Homer's father, the superintendent at the huge coal mine that was located in the town, was very discouraging at first, he thought Homer was just wasting his time and that the rockets were useless noise. However, Homer's mother knew his destiny did not lie in the hands of the mine she knew that he would grow up and make it to college. She was proud of his rockets and thought of him as a very intelligent young man. After much patience Homer's father came around and started lending Homer tools and space to fly his rockets. Without his fathers lending hands Homer would not have gotten his rockets to the high altitudes that he did. The effect his parents had on him was extraordinary, they shaped his beliefs and values.
The other group of people that Homer surrounded himself with were often referred to as "the rocket boys". These would be the five boys that he spent most of his days with making rockets fly. They taught him how to grow up. They influenced his every move. If someone grew up without friends they would be missing a huge part of their identity. Homer and they boys spent many days in Homer's room talking over their plans for their rockets. They spent Saturday nights at the Dugout, a social gathering that most of the teenagers in the town went to. They spent their snow days sledding to different towns, and they spent their nights laying on the roof of the clubhouse looking at the stars. Without these boys Homer would be a very different man. They shaped his identity in a huge way.
The people you're with and the things you do with them are not the only things that shape who you are. There's many little things like where you are, because Homer grew up in a very small town he had a very different living experience than someone that grew up in a large city. He had to work hard for his money. He very rarely had spare change for items that he desired. However Homer was much more fortunate than many other boys because his father was the superintendent of the mine. The little things like this also make you who you are.
Everyone has different characteristics, mostly determining on who you surround yourself with and what you do. The novel October Sky was a very enjoyable book that taught a valuable lesson on how to follow your dreams and never to give up. Many forces can shape someone's identity, they also shape your lifestyle. Without an identity people wouldn't have dreams and ambitions. This book has taught me to follow my heart, and eventually I will reach my dreams.

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Summary: Forces that shape identity
Review: The forces that shape a person's identity can be many things but the thing that shaped Homer Hickam Jr. was the launching of the Russian satellite Sputnik.
One night Homer Jr., his father, his mother, his brother, and almost the whole town stood outside to see the satellite Sputnik pass over their little town in West Virginia. Right when Homer saw the satellite pass over he decided that he wanted to build rockets. That satellite shaped his identity into a rocket boy of Coalwood.
Roy Lee, O'Dell, Sherman, and Quentin helped him. His mom encouraged him, along with his teacher Miss Riley. The main reason he built rockets is because he wants to be part of Dr. Von Braun's crew. Dr. Von Braun is a Russian scientist who builds satellites to send into space. By seeing the satellite pass through the sky, his whole character was changed. He now needed ambition, perseverance, intelligence, etc. His perseverance is tested many times over the course of the book, for example when Mr. Bykovski dies he feels its his fault because Mr. Bykovski was his rocket builder and was sent into the mine as a punishment for not asking his father for permission. Homer moved on and continued building his rockets. His intelligence was tested many times also, for example, he was not intelligent when he went with his friends into the bar and got drunk. That made him look foolish. He then made up for it with his rockets that plummeted into the sky wit ha boom that left the crowd in awe.
By teaching himself how to build rockets he wont at the county science fair, the finals, and then the national science fair. Nobody believed he could do this except him, his friends, his mother, his father, and his teacher. By doing this he proved he could, and honored his whole town who had never received an award for academics before. Homer achieved an incredible thing when him and his friends taught themselves to build rockets that went miles into the sky. They were seen as mroe intelligent after they did this.
In conclusion, the forces that shaped Homer Hickam Jr. was the satellite Sputnik going across the sky. This identity that Homer discovered, made him a great person. This book is not a worthwhile read. It is not a worthwhile read because i found the book to be boring. There were only certain parts that were interesting to read in this book. The second half of the book was more interesting than the first but i did not like it.

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Summary: What forces Shape identity?
Review: Most everyone knows what identity is without ever seriously sitting down and thinking about the subject. When most people read a book, they unconsciously think about elements that make characters the way they are. In October Sky, the memoir of Homer H. Hickam, Jr., this concept is much more conspicuous. Many people including his mother, father, and his teacher, Ms. Riley, clearly affect Homer's identity. They change the way that he thinks about himself and others both positively and negatively.

The person with the greatest affect on Homer's identity was Homer's father, Homer Sr. Homer Sr. was continuously disappointed with Homer from the moment he was born. Homer's brother, Jim, could never do anything wrong in his father's eyes. Jim was a football star and made Homer Sr. proud. Yet Homer couldn't do the same. Homer Sr. never understood Homer's love of rockets and was unaware of his son's great desire to become a rocket scientist. Homer Sr. showed Homer around the mine where most people form Coalwood worked to demonstrate that a true engineer was one who worked for the mine. Homer was not convinced because it wasn't of interest to him. So, rather than considering his father's idea for a better profession, he continued to have a love for rockets. This caused Homer Sr. to question the importance of his own profession. Homer Sr. felt that Homer's unwillingness to become a mining engineer gave the impression that working in the mine was an unworthy profession. Homer desperately wanted his father's approval but he knew it was impossible because of what they both had believed was important in their own lives.

Homer's mother, Elsie Hickam, was also a large force affecting Homer's identity. Elsie helped Homer with his rocket building as a way to show her extreme dislike of Homer Sr.'s profession, working in the mine. She continued to encourage Homer's rocket building knowing that would be a way out of Coalwood. Once out of Coalwood, he could free himself from the mine, which Elsie knew was destroying her husband's life. Although she never publicly went against Homer Sr., she continued to show her disapproval in other ways. One way was to paint a scene of Myrtle Beach to exhibit her own desire to leave. She also continued to try to get Homer to leave Coalwood because she knew that she wanted to leave. She persuaded Dr. Warner VonBraun, one of the most famous rocket engineers at the time, to send a letter and an autographed picture to Homer.
Coalwood was a town in which only a small percentage of the teenagers were able to leave to go to college and the ones who did were usually on football scholarships. This fact drastically affected Homer's identity. Homer needed to keep building rockets to prove to himself as much as to the rest of Coalwood that, even in Coalwood, people could make something of themselves. His launching of rockets symbolized Homer launching himself out of Coalwood. He pushed himself past the basic expectations of those around him.

His teacher, Ms. Riley, was Homer's staunchest supporter. She shared in the achievement of Homer and the Rocket Boys. She taught him more than just science. She taught him how to have confidence in himself and to be able to do something that's not in the beaten path. She also showed support by giving Homer the book Principles of Guided Missile Design. Finally she continued to push him towards the science fairs and his rocket building. With her support he taught himself calculus, a class he was not allowed to take because of his low math grades. He continued to push himself towards his own achievement and that of Ms. Riley.

Mr. Bykovski was also a great supporter in the very beginning of Homer's rocket career. Mr. Bykovski worked in the machine shop for the mine and created rocket bodies for Homer's use. When Homer's father found out that Mr. Bykovski was helping Homer, he sent Mr. Bykovski into the mine and away from the machine shop. After some passage of time, an accident occurred in the mine killing Mr. Bykovski. Homer felt most of the guilt from his death because it he who caused his father to send Mr. Bykovski to the mine in the first place. Yet Homer's own strength brought him through to continue working with his rockets and live up to what Mr. Bykovski would have wanted Homer to do.

Many people throughout Homer's lifetime define his identity. His father, through his disapproval, pushes Homer to prove that he can achieve his goals and live outside the confinement of the mine. His mother drives him to be different than the rest of Coalwood. He finally achieves his mother's dreams and leaves Coalwood and escapes to make something more of himself than just shoveling coal. Ms. Riley gets Homer to validate her own life's work, which is to show children that they can be more than what everyone else tells them they can be. Mr. Bykovski and the rest of Coalwood shape Homer into living proof of life's possibilities: a town centered on the mine can produce people to make more of themselves than shoveling coal. Homer's rockets are symbols of his escape. As rockets fly and are propelled to escape the atmosphere, Homer learned how to escape the confinement of Coalwood. The Coal mine is confined underground where as Homer's life is destined to be defined by the vastness of space.