| A | B |
|---|
| "Sonny" | Homer Hickam, Jr. |
| the Rocket Boy in charge of measuring how high the different rockets went with his theodolit | Billy Rose |
| the smartest Rocket Boy | Quentin Wilson |
| the BCMA's chief scrounger | Jimmy O'Dell Carroll |
| because he had a car, he was a driver of the Rocket Boys | Roy Lee Cooke |
| the Rocket Boy who limped because of his polic | Sherman |
| the inspirational physics and cemistry teacher who helped the Rocket Boys | Miss Riley |
| Sonny's first high school love | Dorothy Plunk |
| Sonny's mother | Elsie Hickam |
| Sonny's father | Homer Hickam, Sr. |
| Sonny's brother, the football star | Jim Hickam |
| helped select Sonny's clothes for the National Science Fair | Emily Sue Buckberry |
| the company machinist who helped the boys with their rockets | Leon Ferro |
| the company manager of the Coalwood mine operations | Mr. Van Dyke |
| the mine engineer whose father owns about 20% of the company | Jake Mosby |
| leader of the miner's union | Mr. Dubonnet |
| baby saved by Sonny's dad | Geneva Eggers |
| the machine shop worker who was punished for helping Sonny | Ike |
| setting of Rocket Boys | Coalwood, WV |
| time period of Rocket Boys | 1957 |
