Out of the Dust

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0-590-36080-9.

PLOT SUMMARY
Billie Jo, age fourteen, struggles to survive the Great Depression and the Oklahoma dustbowl in the mid-1930s. She blames her father for the fiery accident that killed her mother and unborn brother. Her hands were burned severely in the incident, and she was robbed of her ability to play the piano. After a brief sojourn on a westbound train, Billie Jo returns to life on the family farm and reconciles with her father.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Karen Hesse's acclaimed novel, Out of the Dust, reads like a journal. The free verse poems are dated to indicate the passage of time. The poems are titled, complete works individually and differ from each other in form and length. Although the book contains no illustrations, Hesse uses well-chosen, descriptive words to paint vivid images of her tragic, downtrodden characters and the bleak landscape of the Oklahoma dustbowl in the 1930s. In "First Rain", she evokes the personal misery of Billie Jo's dust-filled existence, "Restless,/I tangle in the dusty sheets,/sending the sand flying,/cursing the grit against my skin,/between my teeth,/under my lids,/swearing I'll leave this forsaken place." The brevity of the shorter poems makes the reader feel the emotion of the words in an almost visceral way. The most striking example of this is "Broken Promise" - "It rained/a little/everywhere/but here." Some poems lend a historical perspective to the narrative by featuring real events like the birth of the Dionne quintuplets, FDR's birthday celebration, and the volcanic eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii. With each free verse entry in Billie Jo's life, Karen Hesse draws in the reader to share the joys, sorrows, hopes, and dreams of this remarkable girl.

AWARDS
Newbery Medal - 1998
ALA Notable Books for Children - 1998
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Award - 1997
Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award - 1998
ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Awards - 1998
REVIEW EXCERPTS

Publishers Weekly (starred review): "This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust, and wind of Oklahoma along with the discontent of narrator Billie Jo, a talented pianist growing up during the Depression."

Booklist: "The entire novel is written in very readable blank verse, a superb choice for bringing out the exquisite agony and delight to be found in such a difficult period lived by such a vibrant character."

CONNECTIONS

>Read this book in conjunction with a history lesson on the Oklahoma dustbowl.

>Study the factors, like the removal of the sod and the weather conditions, that led to the dustbowl.

>Look for areas of the world that are currently experiencing conditions similar to that of the 1930s Oklahoma dustbowl.