Homer Hickam official Web site - October Sky/Rocket Boys, The Keeper's Son.

Please use the teaching assignments below, courtesy of Teacher Eileen Poling.

Book Objectives & Lesson Plans
Answering Questions Chapters 14-15
Character Identification Chapters 1-6
Chapter Vocabulary - Chapters 16-18
Answering Questions Chapters after 23
Chapter Vocabulary - Chapters 9-11
Test

Chapters 14-15

Answer the following questions.

"It was 100 percent pure alcohol and went straight from your stomach to your brain where it started killing cells by the handful. They (Frank and Rollie) didn't seem to have all that many brain cells to lose."
What did he mean by this?
"It would have been dangerous to strike a match in the car, considering the combined alcohol breath of the unconscious men in the back."
What is he describing?
When Tag says, "A goose is still a goose. Don't matter where it flies from," what does he mean?
In chapter 15, what "bursts Sonny's bubble" as far as Ginger is concerned?
What does Stuart's dad own?
Do you think Sonny has a chance to date Ginger? Why or why not?
When Tag says at the end of chapter 15, "Yeah, I can tell," to Sonny about Sonny's response that he and Ginger are just friends, what does he really mean?
Who do you think Sonny will take to the Christmas dance?

Character Identification Chapters 1-6

Write the name of the character that matches the description.

Mr. John Dubonnet, Reverend "Little" Richard, Billy Rose, Quentin, Chipper, Poppy, Ginger, Daisy Mae, Mrs. Dantzler, Dandy, Roy Lee, O'Dell, Mimmie, Poteet, Sherman

__________ "He easily pulled away from me with athletic grace, his muscles like small coiled springs, his shoes sending up little puffs of black grit as he ran."
__________ "…in his Dugout clothes, a tight pair of draped and pegged black pants, brown loafers, a pink shirt with black piping, and hair thoroughly lacquered down into a swept-back DA. He had a date for the Saturday-night dance at the teen hangout in War and was headed that way right after the launch."
__________ "I could hear (his) uneven gait, his left leg slung in an arc at each step, his built-up shoe scuffing the slack. Polio had given his leg a twist and turned it thin as a sapling."
__________ "…the BCMA's chief scrounger, a natural job for the son of Red Carroll, Coalwood's garbageman. (He) also came up with various schemes to make money to buy our materials."
__________ "…a darkly handsome lad with an aquiline nose, piercing blue eyes, and severely straight black hair. His trademark was a battered old leather briefcase he carried around everywhere he went. (He) had a way of talking that sometimes defied translation, all delivered in a pseudo-English accent."
__________ "…the pastor of the Mudhole Church of Distinct Christianity at the mouth of Mudhole Hollow. He didn't know much about science and math, but he knew a lot about everything else."
__________ Cocker spaniel; slowly retrieved a stick when it was thrown.
__________ Pet dog; barked at miners going home as they passed the Hickam's fence.
__________ Coalwood's union chief who rarely missed one of the rocket launches. Gary High School classmate of Homer and Elsie Hickam.
__________ In 1941, he had both of his legs cut off in the Coalwood mine. He had moist blue eyes, stringy arms, and a toothless mouth.
__________ A meek and quiet woman who spent most of her time at the cooking stove on visits.
__________ The Hickam's pet calico cat.
__________ The Hickam's pet chipmunk.
__________ "She had hair the color and sheen of mercury and the figure of Marilyn Monroe. Her deep blue eyes were large and expressive and her lashes were long and curled at the end. She laughed a lot and she had fine, straight, very white teeth. She was how I imagined a queen would look."
__________ "The Dantzlers' youngest daughter. I always thought she was a pretty girl. She had the face of an alert pixie, a dimple in her right cheek, brown curly locks, and big amber eyes that always seemed to be a second away from mischief."