These are suggested questions to be used by book clubs who choose Carrying Albert Home. (1) Do you think the marriage of two young people like Elsie and Homer would last today? (2) What is your opinion of Elsie and Homer? Did you like them both equally? Did you understand their motivations? How were they […]
Below are some ideas for discussion in your group. 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 […]
Below are some ideas for discussion in your group. What are our thoughts about probable success when we hear a woman has immigrated to the United States as a teen, without speaking English? What did Anousheh do to better herself, to go on to become a rousing successful engineer and businesswoman, and fulfill her unrealistic […]
Below are some ideas for discussion in your group. Song and Cable seem to believe it was their destiny to be together even though the circumstances were difficult. Do you believe in destiny in terms of romantic relationships? Or is it all luck and circumstance? How do you see Song changing throughout the novel? How […]
Below are some ideas for discussion in your group. The book opens with the battle of Tarawa. Had you ever heard of this battle? What would you think would be the American public’s reaction today to so many of their troops killed in a single battle? Did this novel make you want to read a […]
Below are some ideas for discussion in your group. There are real people such as John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and James Michener who are characters in this novel. Do you think this is disrespectful? Do you think Homer captured the personalities of young JFK and Nixon? Were you surprised to learn the two served […]
Below are a few ideas for discussion in your group with our attached commentaries. How would you describe this book? Would you call it a man’s book or a woman’s book? Can a single incident like Josh losing Jacob define the rest of a person’s life? Josh is an intelligent man, why do you think […]
COMMENTARY The #1 New York Times best-selling memoir, Rocket Boys/October Sky, is the true story of Homer “Sonny” Hickam, Jr., a boy from the mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia. The movie name October Sky is an anagram of the book name Rocket Boys – the same letters, just moved around. Note: When the paperback […]
Below are a few ideas for discussion in your group with our attached commentaries. Homer and I would also love to hear what discussion points your group came up with! Just email us. As you read this memoir, did you begin to feel as if you knew the people involved? Did you like them? Do […]
Below are a few ideas for discussion in your group with our attached commentaries. As you read this memoir, did you begin to feel as if you knew the people involved? Did you like them? Do you think you’d have been happy to live in Coalwood in the late 1950’s? If you had, what position […]
Teachers, please contact LTHickam@homerhickam.com for classroom help for teaching Rocket Boys. Coalwood Books Series Rocket BoysThe Coalwood WaySky of StoneWe Are Not AfraidFrom Rocket Boys to October Sky As you read this memoir, did you begin to feel as if you knew the people involved? Did you like them? Do you think you’d have been […]
Why do you think the United States was so unprepared to fight the U-boats? Was there something about the personalities of the U-boat commanders that made them so successful? What do you think of the author’s idea to use the Dione as his touchstone, to always come back to that little cutter? (Note: I made […]