Riley s condition now and forever sources october sky vocab october sky comparisons between the book and the movie. Through all the tragedy of working in the mine, the young minds of this small world were deprived of a fresh look on academics and the world beyond coalwood. Frieda riley today tab is about how miss riley inspired teachers roday to teach like she did. The book october sky in a 1950s mining town called coalwood, homer hickam, or sonny, is a kid with only one future in sight, to work in the coal mine like his father. Sonnys science teacher, miss riley, when she gives sonny the book principles of guided missile design. A memoir was published by delacorte press in september. In chapter of rocket boys october sky and find homework help for other october sky questions at enotes. Rocket boys october sky chapter one less terrible this. Jake gyllenhaal and the film october sky matt lynn digital. His most successful book was his second, rocket boys 1998, a memoir about his high school years with the bcma. October sky is based on the book the rocket boys, authored by one of miss rileys students, homer hickam.
Miss riley gives him inspiration to show the judges what west virginians can do. This article will give you a chapter by chapter october sky summary. October sky the title on the mass market movie tiein version of the bestselling the rocket boys is the first memoir in a series of four, by homer hickam jr. This readers group guide for homer hickams october skyrocket boys is. In my room, there was my old desk and the book our miss riley had given us, the one. Sonny is very grateful for miss riley trying to help him and the rocket boys with their rockets. When the paperback came out at the same time as the movie, it was also titled october sky. Freida riley, the west virginia educator who inspired the book rocket boys and the movie october sky. What i enjoyed most about it is the authors storytelling skills.
The title was changed because the marketing people at universal studios, where the movie was created, got involved. At the same time, there are a great many universal themes such as dreams, growing up and struggles with family. Interestingly, october sky is an anagram of rocket boys, the same letters just moved around. I dont honestly know why, but here are the similarities and differences between the book october sky name changed from rocket boys and october sky.
In both movie and book, miss riley is supportive of the boys and gives them a rocket book. Her lessons give homer and quentin many ideas for rocket fuel, and with her encouraging, homer enters. She notices that the boys have an interest in rocket building and she encourages them to perfect their model and to go to the science fair. Homer has tremendous respect for miss riley, and says on more than one occasion that he loves her with all his heart. Originally titled the rocket boys when hickam wrote it in 1998, the book can also be found under the title october sky which was released in conjunction with the movie tiein in 1999. The book talks about the attributes of coalwood and the people who live there. He read and loved it and i did too the audio version was also excellent. October sky is a 1999 american biographical drama film directed by joe johnston and starring jake gyllenhaal, chris cooper, chris owen, and laura dern. In rocket boys, i quote miss riley as saying, all ive done is give you a book. October sky questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on october sky. Chapterbychapter october sky summary rocket boys by. October sky 1999 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The movie name october sky is an anagram of the book name rocket boys the same letters, just moved around. In sky of stone, the third book in the coalwood trilogy, sonny, home from college, promises miss riley he will do his best.
When sonny brings up his need for a book about rocket design, she finds a way to. Get an answer for what did miss riley give to sonny in october sky. With miss rileys encouragement and support, homer and the rocket boys took their rocketbuilding skills to the. She taught at big creek high school in war, west virginia during the late 1950s and early 1960s when she had hodgkins disease. Aided by their ailing teacher miss frieda riley, sonny hickam wins 1st place at the national science fair for outstanding the the field of propulsion. She gives sonny a book called principles of guided missile design that is extremely useful to the rocket boys in the future. This dedicated teacher is responsible for inspiring young students in a small coal mining town to pursue careers in nasa. The book october sky was originally titled rocket boys. However in october 1957, everything changes when the first satellite, sputnik goes into space.
One of the most amazing teachers i ever read about was a west virginia educator named freida riley. Laura dern had an emotional turn in october sky as miss riley. In homer hickams autobiographical october sky, miss freida riley does all of these things and more for homer, aka sonny, and the rest of the rocket boys in the big creek missile agency bcma. October sky 511 movie clip gift from miss riley 1999. She inspires the rocket boys to compete in the national science fair. The coalwood trilogy discussion questions homer hickam. She inspires sonny to enter the science fair and gives him a book on how to build better rockets. Today, it is one of the most often picked community.
After seeing october sky for the second time, i decided to buy this book for my science and mathminded 14year old son. Many schools from fifth grade to college are studying rocket boys october sky in their classrooms, including english, math, and science classes. October sky tab is about the movie and the book, influence on big creek high school tab is about how miss riley inspired her student. In this part of the book miss riley is giving sonny a book called principles of guided missile design. It relates to my topic because right before it the rocket boys are accused of arson and miss riley helps prove that they couldnt have caused the.
The character of miss riley in rocket boys from litcharts the. I was reading a book on the civil air patrol just a month or so ago. The book is dedicated to mom and dad and the people of coalwood. It is a story of growing up in a mining town, and a boys pursuit of amateur rocketry in a coal mining town. This disease impacted her health in a very adverse way, but she overcame this shortcoming to be a positive influence in her students life. According to their research, women over thirty would not see a movie called rocket boys. Weatherford award in 1998, the year of its release.
If anyone is interested in true stories or science or rocketry or just. He read the large book when he was 9 and then i bought the video for him which he has watched over and over. Chapter one talked about coalwood and how it has come along. In the book, miss riley attends the final rocket launch while in the movie she is stuck in the hospital. Another important person in october sky was freida riley, sonnys science teacher. A stunning replica of the one used in october sky, created by ky michaelson for the movie.
In october, news of the soviet unions rocket launch of sputnik 1 reaches coalwood. Important people, mindsets, and events in october sky. This made sonny jealous, so he decided to do something to impress his parents and be better than his brother. Throughout the book and movie sonnys father pressures him to become a coal miner and doesnt support his passion towards rockets. This was the movie version of the book rocket boys, written by homer hickam. Given the films warm reception among critics and audiences, we queued this worthy film up for your consideration. Freida joy riley march 1, 1937 august 5, 1969 was an american science and math teacher. This was discovered by director joe johnston using an anagram program on his computer. Homer, you got a great mind, but science requires math, which has never been one of your favorite subjects. While i listened to the beeping, i had this mental image of russian highschool kids lifting the sputnik and putting it in place on top of a big, sleek rocket. Miss freida riley is that teacher for sonny in homer hickams october sky. She played the rocket boys science teacher and their biggest supporter, continuing to cheer them.
This is a limited production run of only 100 kits that will ever be produced and commemorates the. When universal made the movie, however, they changed quite a bit. She tells the boys that going and winning the science fair can get them scholarships and places into a good collage. As the townspeople gather outside the night of the broadcast, they see the satellite orbit across the sky. Later, homer is inspired to read a book on rocket science from miss riley, learning to calculate the trajectory of a rocket. The amazing freida riley, inspiration for rocket boys. A numberone new york times bestseller in mass market, brought to the screen in the acclaimed film october sky, homer hickams memoir, nominated for the national book critics circle award, comes to trade paperback with an allnew photo insert. The character of miss riley in rocket boys from litcharts. In both the movie and book, homers dad is obsessed with working in the mine and making sure that everything is running smoothly. Miss riley, once in a while a lucky one will get out on a football scholarship. Miss riley told sonny awhile ago that she would try and find him this book so he could put his rockets in the science fair. Miss riley laura dern gives homer jake gyllenhaal a book to fuel his dreams.
Vocab tab has vocab from the book and a website about miss riley. Rocket boys study guide from litcharts the creators of. She suffered from something known as hodgkins disease. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Do you want me to sit quiet, let em breathe in coal dust the rest of their life. Otherwise, despite its based on a true story opening credit, this earnest, nostalgic film has a way of seeming too good to be true. Rocket boys from which the film october sky was based is about life in a west. Compare and contrast first of all, the last rocket, the 6 ft one that the rocket boys launched off was not called the miss riley in the book. The book was a bestseller, and enabled hickam to write fulltime. Miss freida riley was sonnys science teacher and one of the driving forces behind him and the boys entering the science fair. 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. The book was then republished as october sky shortly afterwards. Filled with awe and a belief that this may be his chance out of coalwood, homer sets out to build rockets of his own and enter the science fair.
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