Sonny is the second son of Homer Hickham Sr. and Elsie Lavender Hickham. A happy child from birth, he is near-sighted, a poor athlete, and a bit of a misfit who has a difficult relationship with his father who wanted a daughter and not a second son. Beaten up by certain other miner's sons, because his father is the Coalwood mine superintendent, and therefore considered the enemy by many union fathers who work in the mine, Sonny has a core group of boys who are his friends. His life is forever changed when the Russians launch the satellite Sputnik I. It flies over West Virginia and he is inspired to build rockets. The original rocket boy, Sonny has leadership skills and rallies a group of his friends to build rockets with him. Sonny forms the Big Creek Missile Agency, or BCMA to learn about and make rockets. He is different from his father and brother, more like his mother, and secretly talks to and confides in Daisy Mae, his fluffy calico cat.
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