The book October Sky was originally titled Rocket Boys. The title was changed because the marketing people at Universal Studios, where the movie was created, got involved. They claimed that the title had to be changed. According to their research, women over thirty would not see a movie called Rocket Boys. What is interesting about the title change is that October Sky is an anagram, or a phrase formed from another by rearranging its letters, of Rocket Boys. Also, the book is based off of a true story. The majority of the names are even the real names of the characters!
October Sky is about a boy, Homer Hickam Jr., who goes by Sonny. Sonny is inspired by Dr. Wernher Von Braun, a rocket scientist for the Germans. Sonny is encouraged to build rockets with the help of his friends Quentin, O'Dell, Roy Lee, and Sherman after the Russians launched Sputnik. Sputnik was the first space satellite to be launched successfully. Roy Lee, O'Dell, and Sherman have been friends for a while, but Quentin was a new addition to the group. Quentin was added when Sonny asked for help with building rockets. Sonny's mother helps Sonny throughout his rocketry experience. Sonny's father on the other hand, is against building rockets at first but by the end, changes his perspective on rockets. Father also favors Sonny's older brother, Jim. Jim is a very good football player on the High School team in there home town. The story takes place in Coalwood West Virginia. Coalwood is centered around coal mining and the High School is centered around the football team. Towards the end of the story, this changes. Sonny is determined to build a successful rocket with the help of the rest of the Rocket Boys and other people in Coalwood. The Rocket Boys are made up of Quentin, Roy Lee, O'Dell, Sherman, and Sonny himself. Miss Riley, Sonny's science teacher, helps the boys make up different mixtures so that their rockets can be launched successfully. She also encourages the boys to enter in the science fair. The boys believe that their rockets are not prepared enough for the science fair and they think that there is no chance of them winning given their new understanding of rockets. They also have a history of damaging a few things because of the rockets. For example, the first rocket destroyed a part of Mother's fence. Another rocket landed on a road in Coalwood. That could have put anyone nearby in danger. The Rocket Boys did get help constructing the rocket shells by Mr. Bykovski in the beginning but Father was outraged and demoted him. Mr. Ferro took over and assigned Mr. Clinton Caton, a machinist, to build supplies for the boys. Jake Mosby also helped Sonny to believe in the rockets he was working on. Jake also drove Sonny to school for a while so that Sonny would not have to take the bus and so that he could visit Miss Riley more often. The Rocket Boys are becoming more experienced with their rockets throughout the book. Miss Riley and another teacher bought Sonny a book all about rockets to help the boys improve their rockets. After Sonny receives the book, he agrees to enter into the science fair. Sonny wins at a few different fairs and got a special Air Force prize as well. Sadly, during the science fairs, Sonny's supplies are stolen and he must wait to get more from Coalwood. When Sonny returns to Coalwood with many victories, people soon realize that building rockets is much more than what they originally believed. In the end, Father helps launch the Rocket Boys final rocket and Sonny feels that his father does care more about him and the rockets he makes more then he thought. |