1. Bibliography
Hesse, Karen. OUT OF THE DUST. New York: Scholastic, 1997.
2. Plot Summary
At the age of fourteen, the narrator Billy Jo must face the devastation of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Through her eyes, she shares her story and the effects it has on her family. During this emotional period of her life, Billie Jo’s dream to become a pianist is stolen from her after a heartbreaking fire takes her mother’s life and damages her hands, making them useless. As a result, she has to learn to keep her spirit alive and persevere through the pit falls of life. In a diary form, Hesse tells about Billie Jo’s incredible journey through this tragic part of her life.
3. Critical Analysis
This heart felt book portraying the life of Billie Jo in Oklahoma will have readers in admiration of her will to survive. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression are just the beginning of her fight in life. While dealing with these struggles, a dreadful fire takes her mother and baby brother, and damages her hands to “swollen lumps.” When her only content in life was being a piano player was taken from her, she must try and keep her spirit alive. In this narrative, Billie Jo will walk you through her life showing readers many emotions and her fight to survive.
With a strong narrative voice, Hesse writes a Newberry Medal winner in a free verse poem, which helps readers create a vivid image of Billie Jo’s life. As she tells of different times in her life like when the dust came on “like a fired locomotive,” readers can feel the suffering she is encountering. This novel will convey life during the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression, and allow one to feel the ups and downs of this time period through the eyes of a child.
4. Reviews
1998 Newbery Medal winner
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL - Best Book for Young Adults
Publisher’s Weekly – "This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust and wind of Oklahoma. With each meticulously arranged entry Hesse paints a vivid picture of her heroine's emotions."
5. Connections
*Similar Books
THE GIVER. By Lois Lowry. ISBN 0440237688
A SINGLE SHARD. By Linda Sue Park. ISBN 0440418518
WALK TWO MOONS. By Sharon Creech. ISBN 0064405176
*A Guide for Using Out of the Dust in the Classroom by Sarah Clark would be a good resource for teachers to use to help teach OUT OF THE DUST.
Hesse, Karen. OUT OF THE DUST. New York: Scholastic, 1997.
2. Plot Summary
At the age of fourteen, the narrator Billy Jo must face the devastation of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Through her eyes, she shares her story and the effects it has on her family. During this emotional period of her life, Billie Jo’s dream to become a pianist is stolen from her after a heartbreaking fire takes her mother’s life and damages her hands, making them useless. As a result, she has to learn to keep her spirit alive and persevere through the pit falls of life. In a diary form, Hesse tells about Billie Jo’s incredible journey through this tragic part of her life.
3. Critical Analysis
This heart felt book portraying the life of Billie Jo in Oklahoma will have readers in admiration of her will to survive. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression are just the beginning of her fight in life. While dealing with these struggles, a dreadful fire takes her mother and baby brother, and damages her hands to “swollen lumps.” When her only content in life was being a piano player was taken from her, she must try and keep her spirit alive. In this narrative, Billie Jo will walk you through her life showing readers many emotions and her fight to survive.
With a strong narrative voice, Hesse writes a Newberry Medal winner in a free verse poem, which helps readers create a vivid image of Billie Jo’s life. As she tells of different times in her life like when the dust came on “like a fired locomotive,” readers can feel the suffering she is encountering. This novel will convey life during the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression, and allow one to feel the ups and downs of this time period through the eyes of a child.
4. Reviews
1998 Newbery Medal winner
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL - Best Book for Young Adults
Publisher’s Weekly – "This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust and wind of Oklahoma. With each meticulously arranged entry Hesse paints a vivid picture of her heroine's emotions."
5. Connections
*Similar Books
THE GIVER. By Lois Lowry. ISBN 0440237688
A SINGLE SHARD. By Linda Sue Park. ISBN 0440418518
WALK TWO MOONS. By Sharon Creech. ISBN 0064405176
*A Guide for Using Out of the Dust in the Classroom by Sarah Clark would be a good resource for teachers to use to help teach OUT OF THE DUST.
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