Where?
The story takes place in and around Coalwood, West Virginia. For the most part, even when Sonny leaves Coalwood, he stays in McDowell county, the county in which Coalwood is in. Coalwood is a mining town, and the only people who are allowed to live there are people who have somebody in their family work at the mine. The company that owns the mine provides housing, schooling (through 9th grade), and a church for all of the families in Coalwood. Homer Sr. is the
When?
The story begins in 1957, the year the first artificial satellite, sputnik, was launched by the russians. Sonny sees sputnik, and that is when he gets his first inspiration to build a rocket. This is the time the space race began. The USA was going against the then Soviet Union, trying to reach space. Schooling was made rigorous in an attempt to make people in the country smarter as a result of the russians being called smarter than the americans.