"October Sky" by Homer Hickam
"October Sky" by Homer Hickam
October Sky was written by Homer Hickam. Describes Homer growing up in the small mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. He became fascinated with rockets and began the BCMA (Big Creek Missile Agency), to make rockets and discover what made them fly. Written as an autobiography about his life. The story takes place in a small coal mining town in West Virginia from 1957 on. The main form of conflicts in October Sky are man vs. man. Homer Hickam wants to fallow his dreams and be successful in his dad's eyes, through the flying of rockets.
Homer Hickam Jr. is the main character in the book October Sky. He grows up in a small coal mining town in West Virginia. He is not good at football like his brother Jim, but he wants to find a way to go to collage and not have to work in the coal mine. "When I wasn't outside playing , I spent hours happily reading." (12) When he gets older he realizes that he does not want to live in the mining town for the rest of his life. I like Homer(Sonny) because we are both interested in rockets and have a lot of similarities.
Quintin is the genius in the of the BCMA. He always uses big words and read all the books he could find on everything from math to science. He helps the others in the group research and find out scientific ways to make black powder and eventually rockets. "So what do you know about rockets?" I asked him. "Anything". "I know everything."(72) He does not change much threw the book, he in just the eccentric science member of the BCMA. I feel that without him the BCMA would never have made their rockets as precise.
Homer Hickam is the father of Homer Jr. the main character of the book. Homer Sr. was the superintendent of the coal mine in Coalwood. His opinion about the rockets are contradicting to those of Homer Jr's. Later in the book he discovers that he will not be able to stop Homer Jr. from making rockets, so he gives up trying to stop him. I felt that he put his work at the mine before everything else, which I did not like.
Through out most of the book, Homer and his dad do not agree on rockets. Sonny wants to fly rockets and learn...