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Out of the Dust (by Karen Hesse)

common sense media says

A penetrating look at a poor child's life.


parents & educators say
  • 33% say violence is an issue

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this powerful and poignant tale set amid Oklahoma's "Dust Bowl" years is told entirely in free verse, which might pose a challenge for some readers. And although the writing is exceptional, the subject matter is relentlessly bleak; the book's joylessness might limit its appeal to young readers.

Positive messages: Billy Jo's father reacts to her mother's death with a brief drinking binge--behavior that doesn't recur again.
Violence: Billie Jo accidentally sets her mother on fire by throwing a bucket of kerosene on her. One graphic scene explicitly describes her burns. She dies, as does her newly born baby boy, and Billy Jo's hands are disfigured in the accident.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.

More on Out of the Dust

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the Dust Bowl in a historical context, focusing on the effect the severe storms had on the livelihood of working families. If you and your family were faced with the same conditions, do you think you could survive? Did hardship bring Billie Jo's family closer together -- or tear them farther apart? How did Billie Jo's relationship with her father change in the wake of her mother's death?

What's the story?

What's the story?
A penetrating, gut-wrenching look at the seasons of discontent in Billie Jo's year, growing up in the wind, dust, drought, and heat of Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma. Billie Jo's is a faraway voice with immediate appeal in this foreboding, clenched fist of a novel. An umbrella of emotion weighs heavily over each sad event, true to the austere historical setting.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
Billie Jo narrates, in unfolding glimpses of story, a tale of death, destruction, dust, and the search for redemption that's written in the first-person, poetic, stanza form of Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade. She describes her desolate internal and external landscape with a searing, brutal honesty. With uncompromising realism, the author shows life in the Dust Bowl taking one sad turn after another for this "redheaded, freckle-faced, narrow-hipped girl with a fondness for apples and a hunger for playing fierce piano."

The increasingly doleful progression of events hammers at the reader, nearly overwhelming the faint light of hope that appears at last in the form of a journey, a surrogate mother, and the promise of music that comes from the healing of Billie Jo's hands as well as heart.

Book themes & details

Book Details
Author: Karen Hesse
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publication date: January 1, 1997
Number of pages: 227
Paperback price: $4.99

This review was written by Megan McDonald
 
 

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What parents & educators say

9
Based on 3 parent & educator reviews:
  • 33% say violence is an issue

Most useful reviews by all members

yo diggy dog
kid, 12 years old
 
terrible does not make sense
This book is incompident and weird because it is a joke for the actual dust bowl survivers.

weisman3
teen, 15 years old
 
91/2+
I loved this book, it was great. But it has a difficult story to tell. It is most because it is in the time of the great depuration and the dust bowl. I loved this story and it is a great story for anyone that loves historical fiction and over the ages of 9 1/2+. Remember that it has a difficult story to tell and a little violence. Do not let children under 7 read this story it is not the best for them.

wondergirl_is_back
teen, 17 years old
 
made my class sick
this is not a good book. not for young children!

Event Horizon
teen, 14 years old
 
Makes Where the Red Fern Grows feel like a comedy
Nothing wrong with it when it appropriatness-wise, besides a WOMAN CAUGHT ON FIRE. Okay, that's out of the way. Everything wrong with it story-wise, entertainment-wise, and readability-wise. It bored me to tears, except in the graphic burning part, where I cried for eternity. The poems are hard to understand, and her plight never feels horrible, considering that I hate piano with my heart and soul. The ending feels wrong, as does this book as a whole. I hate it hate it hate it. Ranks up there with Ender's Game and Christmas Carol on overatedness. Avoid at all costs.

ttforever
kid, 13 years old
 
perfect for that age group of 9&up

018
teen, 17 years old
 
What's Great?........ This book
I loved all the drama in this book I think it really explains what it would be like back in that time. I though there was alot of drama in the book.I think the Dad of Billie Joe is the one who creats the most drama well he is drinking after the mother and son died. I feel that towns people also blame Billie Joe for poring the oil on the mother when she made a simple mistake. I was sad when Billie Joe ran away but somehow I knew she was going to go back because she couldn't just leave her fater there by himself. In the end everything turns out ok and that's what make's this book so speacial to me I mean that's why I read it every year now.

goobiegirl
kid, 12 years old
 
AWESOME BOOK!!!!!!
This book is historical fiction and it has alot of facts about how hard it was living during the terrible times of the dust storm, it is very well written and while reading it i got very emotinal and i like the way it was free verse also it was very interesting to learn all the different emotions billie jo was feeling during this time era!!! i totally recormend it

clobo
kid, 12 years old
 
i loved this book because it tells a good story about the dust storms. also it has an accent that makes the book sound more realistic. i also liked that it was very discriptive on what was happening during dust storms and how hard it was to live in the dust book. i really liked the lined that billy jo used alot "i want to get out, out of the dust."

sportygirl4
kid, 13 years old
 
My oppion on to recimend this book for your son or daughter
i think that it was an ok, it is really weird and you need to really read it to get it and if u like a book about a girl and what she goes through and her feelings, then you will really enjoy this book. My Summary: It is about Billie Jo and how her life takes a toll when her best friend moves away and her mom dies, from the birth of her little brother Franklin. And her dad is to blame for the fire that burned her mother also nearly killing her. You see Billie Jo loves to play piano and when her mother dies, her depression makes that hard. I thought her life couldnt get any worse, but it does, her dad gets cancer and is dying. Billie Jo' solusion was to run away because her dad no longer talked or looked at her. When she on the train west, she meets a nice man who is running away also because he cant feed his family. When Billie Jo takes a nap and wakes up her food is gone but a picture of his family is under her. She then relizes that she cant leave her dad, so goes back... you will have to read what happens next. I think that i would recamend this book for your child because i actually learned from it, i learned that you cant run away from your life u can only try to make it better, so yes i would have your child read this!!! :) but this is the only down sider, it is kind of violent and some things are bad role models but you do learn from their mistakes and you learn not to do those things.

Book_Worm_123
teen, 16 years old
 
I Loved This!!!
I don't understand why people did not enjoy this book because it had to be one of the best books I have ever read! The author's technique was very attractive, easy to read, and unique. I cannot wait to read another book by Karen Hesse.

olierory
kid, 11 years old
 

smilewilla
teen, 13 years old
 
Out of the Dust
The book Out of the Dust is about a girl living durring the Great depression. Unfortunatly, She lives in Oaklahoma,smack dab in the middle of the Dust bowl. Billie Jo (the main character) is pretty lonely being an only child. Though her mom is expecting a baby. The only thing that keeps Billie Jo from feeling alone is playing the piano. Then one day Billie Jo's dad acsidentally leaves a bucket of kerosene by the stove. Billie Jo's mom mistakes it for water and pours it on the stove. It catches on fire she tries to though it out the door, but it hits he mom instead!her mom gets badly burnt and so are Billie Jo's Hands. Will she ever play piano again?

 
Read Out Of The Dust!!
This book was amazing it really inspired me. I think this book is a great read because the story is well written and the plot is very simple it's not like the Da Vinchi Code. Karen Hesse is such a great author. YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

 
GREAT
I love this movie. I spent 2 hours reading this book. This book is about a girl named Billie Joe and the book is about her hard and harsh life in the dust storms in Oaklahoma. Karen Hesse ( the author) writes a great story about a young girl. This book will make you want to read it agian and agian

moneyrocks97
teen, 13 years old
 
DISSAPOINTING!
To read this book was not very fun. You would never think that in a kids book that the mom would die and the brother and it was practically Billie Jo's fault.

BagelBoy1999
kid, 13 years old
 
This movie takes place in Oaklahoma. And this book is about a girl named Billie Joe who lives with her mother who is having a second child. And Billie Joe also is living with her father. Billie Joe's family is dealing with the duststorms. But one day when the duststorm hits it ruins Billie Joe's dad's crops. He looses his job. But when life is harsh in Oaklahoma Billie Joe plays songs. I think Karen Hesse is a great author. Because I red a lot of her books. And there all very well written. But Out of The Dust is my favorite book written by her because the story is amazing And it's fun learning about the charectors in the book.

 
Good book, but too descriptive on some parts
First I would like to say it was a great piece of work from Hesse. But, this book should not be read by young children. My eleven year old daughter came to me asking why a baby died in her book and also if it hurts to be caught on fire. This clearly disturbed her and it also made me uneasy about letting my daughter continue reading this book. Know your child or students before you allow them to read this. The scenes where it speaks about her mother being in pain from her burns are detailed and made my daughter put the book down. Be cautious with this book.

babygirl9561
teen, 13 years old
 
Out of the dust
this book is great for childeren in the age of 8-120

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