8 th Grade GRC Mrs. Cole OMMS

Historical Context  From 1946 to 1991, the U.S. was locked in a Cold War with Russian Communism. The Soviets claimed that Communism was the wave of the future and that it would bury capitalism, democracy, and the United States. Russia and Communism were a serious threat to the U.S. and the Western democracies.

Historical Context  In the 1950s, the United States believed that its technology was the best in the world. At that time U.S. factories were building these products.  Japan was still recovering from WW II and China was still undeveloped. The United States had been first with the atomic bomb and first with the hydrogen bomb. U.S. airplanes and jet fighters were the best in the world.  Americans took comfort in the belief that they had the best scientists and engineers that ever lived.

Historical Context  The belief in American technical superiority changed in Sputnik was the first man-made satellite to orbit the earth. It was sent up, not by the Americans, but by the Russians.  Americans looked up to see a Communist star traversing the heavens and realized that in the important arena of space, our technology was inferior to that of the Russians.  People worried about what would happen if the Russians put an atomic bomb on one of their satellites.  This insecurity deepened as the first several U.S. efforts to orbit a satellite failed miserably. Rockets exploded on the launch pads or they crashed soon after lift-off.  All of this occurred live on world-wide television. It was more than embarrassing. It was frightening.

Historical Context  "October Sky" shows one boy's reaction to this event. The story told by this movie is pretty much true. The movie takes place in a coal town in West Virginia. Coal towns existed for the sole purpose of mining coal. Everything in the town was owned by the coal company: the stores, the church, the schools and the houses in which the miners lived.  If a miner was incapacitated and could no longer work, his family was forced to move out of their company owned house, which meant leaving town. Often, when the father was injured, the children had to work in the mines to pay the rent and remain eligible to live in company owned housing.  If a miner died in the mines, his family had a very short time (usually two weeks) to move. The coal company didn't want the grim reminders of the dangers of the mine to be around too long.

Historical Context  Coalwood, where protagonist Homer Hickam lived, was one of the better company towns, but it was still subject to harsh practices by the mine owners.  In a mine, coal dust pollutes the air and literally covers everything.  A common ailment among miners is black lung disease (pneumoconiosis) caused by inhaling coal dust. Homer's father was suffering from this disease.  The mine owners refused to compensate miners for this occupational hazard, so the Federal Government stepped in and set up a health and worker's compensation plan for the miners.

The Rocket Boys  Homer "Sonny" Hickam, Jr. is the main protagonist and narrator of the story. He is 14 years old at the beginning of the story, and serves as the unspoken leader of the Rocket Boys. He is very nearsighted and requires glasses.  Quentin Wilson is an intelligent member of the Rocket Boys and the person who does most of the math out of the entire group. Quentin carries around a suitcase stuffed with books wherever he goes and finds excuses to get out of gym class. He is excitable and often confounds the other members and townspeople with his advanced vocabulary when jumpy.  O'Dell Carroll is small and excitable, the most emotional member of the group. His father drove the town garbage truck, allowing O'Dell access to many useful items, frequently scrounged to further the group's efforts. He is always scheming ways of making money, from the failed iron scrap attempt—which took an entire summer, yielded a net loss of one dollar, not counting the destruction of borrowed equipment, and almost killed Sonny—to the profitable harvesting of ginseng.  Sherman Siers has a physically weakened left leg as a result of polio, but does not let it slow him down. He is also the most observant and practical member of the team.  Roy Lee Cooke is Sonny's best friend. He teaches Sonny something about girls.. Roy Lee also knows the moonshiner in town, John Eye, who provides the boys with the alcohol needed for their special propellant they call Zincoshine.  Willie "Billy" Rose is a member of the Rocket Boys who joins the group about a year after it is founded. He has excellent eyesight and can find rockets very well. He is the best runner in the group.

Other Characters  Miss Riley is a chemistry and physics teacher at Big Creek High School who inspires the Rocket Boys to compete in the National Science Fair. She gives Sonny a book called Principles of Guided Missile Design that is extremely useful to the Rocket Boys in the future. She also orchestrates the Rocket Boys' entry into the National Science Fair. She is diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma shortly before Sonny leaves for the science fair. At first her affliction goes into recession, but later she dies of her disease.  Homer Hickam, Sr. is a hard-headed mine foreman in Coalwood and Sonny's father. He takes his job very seriously, going out of his way to help miners in distress. He is almost always at odds with the union leader, John Dubonnet, who dated Elsie when they were all in high school together. Homer Sr. seems to not care about Sonny's affairs as much as he does Jim's; Sonny points this out in the book much to Homer Sr.'s chagrin. He has a spot on his lung that is the common miner's disease, black lung (Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis), but refuses to quit work, although most men who are discovered to have this illness are forced into retirement, but allowed to stay in Coalwood.  Elsie Hickam is Sonny's mother. She is supportive of Sonny's rocket building, but often finds herself at odds with her husband, Homer Sr., about the rocket building. She often tells Sonny, "Don't blow yourself up." She is consistently working on a mural of Myrtle Beach throughout the memoir.

Photos from 2010 Coalwood October Sky Festival Coalwood Community Center Coalwood Club House Author Homer Hickam

Photos from Coalwood Big Creek High School National Science Fair Gold and Silver Medal Award 1960 Presented to Homer H. Hickam, Jr. Big Creek High School