Homer Hickam official Web site – The Dinosaur Hunter, October Sky/Rocket Boys.

READING GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FOR HOMER HICKAM'S BOOKS:

The Dinosaur Hunter
My Dream of Stars
Red Helmet
The Far Reaches
The Ambassador's Son
The Keeper's Son
Sky of Stone
The Coalwood Way
The Coalwood Triology
Rocket Boys
Torpedo Junction
Teacher's Guide to Rocket Boys/October Sky
Soon - "We Are Not Afraid" Discussion Questions

Read it.

Live it.

Dig it.

If your book club picks it, contact LTerryNOSPAM@hiwaay.net (remove no spam) to schedule a phone or skype discussion for your book club with Homer in January or February.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Below are some ideas for discussion in your group. Homer and I would also love to hear what questions your group came up with! Click here to email us.

In the acknowledgments note, the author reveals he is a serious amateur paleontologist, hunting fossils and bones in the Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana. He has been credited by the Montana State Paleontologist for several T.rex discoveries. Do you think it makes the story more interesting to know the author is a real life dinosaur bone hunter? Do you feel you've learned how real paleontologists search for bones and then conduct a dig? Did you learn more about dinosaurs that you didn’t know already (e.g. that they may have lived in family groups?
While in Montana, the author came to greatly admire the ranching families. He found them hard-working and educated but very much attuned to the cycles of nature and their cows and crops. Did the book allow you to understand these ranchers a little better? Discuss if you believe this way of life is doomed to disappear.
Did you like the hero Mike Wire? Do you see him as flawed? Resolute? Funny? Peculiar? If you knew him, would you admire him or be uncertain as to his character? What did you like and dislike about Mike?
The Square C ranch is run by Jeanette Coulter with an iron hand. What did you think of her? Do you think she's cold and unloving or just completely dedicated to the ranch? Is Mike stupid to hold her in such high esteem and even to be in love with her? What do you think life on the Square C is like? Would you enjoy it?
Could you let your kids be as free as the children of Montana ranchers are in this novel? Do we worry too much about kids today or it that these ranch kids are raised to be more self sufficient? Or do they just live in a simpler place than most of us do today?
What about Pick’s ideas of Deep Time and the circle as a symbol of life and perhaps a deliberate signal from the universe as to the nature of our lives?
Did you like Tanya? Do you think she and Mike could have made a happy life together had things worked out differently? How would you have seen their future playing out?
Can you have any sympathy for Mayor Edith? Discuss her problems, justifications, and motivation for her actions.
Would you like to see these characters in another book? Please let the author know on his FaceBook page, Homer Hickam Official Page – click “Like.”