Rocket Boys

Homer approaches Mr. Hartsfield, his math teacher, and asks him for help learning calculus. Hartsfield is dismissive at first—he reminds Homer that he couldn’t even make As in algebra. Homer admits that Hartsfield is right, though he points out that his friends—Quentin, O’Dell, Sherman, and Roy Lee, are all good math students. Hartsfield seems somewhat sympathetic to the BCMA’s goals of mastering rocketry, but he sadly explains that they’ll never succeed in lobbying for a calculus class—Big Creek is a mining and football school, not a calculus school. Homer and his friends find this wildly unfair, and Mr. Hartsfield admits they’re right.

Aided by Miss Riley, the BCMA goes to talk to Mr. Turner about organizing a calculus class. Miss Riley is a forceful advocate for the boys, explaining that they’re very serious about calculus. Turner explains that he’ll need to speak to the superintendent, who will undoubtedly turn down the request. Afterwards, Homer notices that Miss Riley isn’t as cheerful as usual when she teaches chemistry.

The next day, Homer and Quentin are called to Mr. Turner’s office. There, they’re shocked to find Miss Riley and Mr. Turner standing with two West Virginia State police officers. The two men show Quentin and Homer a metal tube and demand to know if they recognize it. Homer tells the truth: the rocket isn’t one of his, though it’s beautifully designed. Turner and the officers refuse to believe Homer, and they tell him that the rocket in question caused a vast forest fire. The officers say that Homer and Quentin—along with the other BCMA members—are under arrest.

Before the officers can handcuff Homer and Quentin, Mrs. Turner, Miss Riley protests that the boys can’t have caused the forest fire—their launchpad is too far away. Mr. Turner’s wife then bursts in, carrying a map of the surrounding area. Homer notices that Mr. Turner seems to be irritated with his wife for entering his office. Nevertheless, Mrs. Turner unfolds the map and asks Homer to show the officers where his launchpad is located. He points to the Cape Coalwood—more than ten miles away from the forest. Miss Riley interjects that Homer couldn’t possibly have started a fire from this distance. Suddenly, Quentin realizes that the metal tube is a flare, much like those in a book he read a few months ago. A local airplane must have dropped the flare into the forest, he concludes.

After Quentin finishes explaining the origins of the metal flare, there is an awkward silence. Mr. Turner clears his throat and asks the state troopers, along with Homer and Quentin, to leave. One week later, Mr. Turner summons the BCMA to his office and tells them that there will be a calculus class at Big Creek, with an enrollment of six students.

A few days later, Homer gets some depressing news: there were seven applicants for the six positions in Mr. Hartsfield’s calculus class, and because Homer’s grades are the worst of the six applicants, he’ll be unable to take the class. Homer learns from Mr. Turner that Dorothy Plunk took his place. While Homer is crushed by this news, he’s not angry with Dorothy—her grades are much better than his, and she’d already told him how much she wanted to learn calculus.

A few days later, Homer and Quentin are standing together in Miss Riley’s class. Quentin offers to teach Homer calculus personally, insisting that Homer is still a part of the BCMA. Before Homer can reply, Miss Riley demonstrates a new chemical reaction: the combination of sulfur and zinc, resulting in sulfur dioxide. Quentin exclaims that they’ve found their next rocket fuel—rock candy will never propel a rocket beyond a few thousand feet into the air.

The spring of 1959 begins, and Coalwood, thanks to extra orders from surrounding steel mills, works overtime to ship out coal. Unemployed miners regain their jobs, and the town as a whole becomes more prosperous. College football coaches also begin visiting the Hickam house to recruit Jim—much to his surprise, his suspension senior year hasn’t destroyed his chances of getting a sports scholarship.

Homer Sr. walks into his house, grinning—he’s just gotten news that Jim will be visited by dozens of college recruiters. Then he notices Homer looking glum, and Homer explains that he’s been cut from calculus class. Homer Sr. nods, but quickly moves on to talk to Jim. Angry and hurt, Homer goes upstairs to his room with Daisy Mae, his cat. He notices a book on a shelf in the hallway: Mathematics, a Guide for Self-Study. He leafs through it, noting chapters with writing in his father’s hand. He decides to teach himself calculus.