1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. New York, NY: Scholastic. ISBN 0590360809
2. PLOT SUMMARY
In free verse poetry, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo narrates her family’s hardships during the dust bowl years in Oklahoma.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
In free verse poetry, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo narrates her family’s hardships during the dust bowl years in Oklahoma.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Hesse does a magnificent job telling the tale of Billie Jo. The story is narrated by Billie Jo and exposes the reader to the hardships of the Depression and dust bowl. Like the title says, Billie Jo longs to get out of the dust and leave Oklahoma behind. Sadly, leaving the past behind is harder than Billie Jo realizes. Readers will feel Billie’s pain when a tragic accident takes her mother's life. Hesse creates a distinctive voice in Billie Joe to describe the pain her mother is experiencing. “She can’t open her eyes, she cries out when the baby moves inside her, otherwise she moans, day and night. I wish the dust would plug my ears so I couldn’t hear her.” The words are simple, but the pain is real.
Hesse uses sense imagery to allow the reader to experience some of the dust bowl. When Billie Jo grits the sand in her teeth and blows brown mucus, every reader can feel the dust too.
The relationship between Billie Jo and her father is awkward and strained. Young adult readers will have no problem relating to this because many of them have tense relationships with their parents.
As realistic as the black and white picture on the front cover is of depicting conditions during the Depression, it will not entice students to pick up this book. Librarians are going to have to sell this book on its literary merit. Fortunately, the book will give readers a personal glimpse inside the Depression. Hesse makes references to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which add authenticity to the book. It could also make an excellent tie-in with an earth science lesson on overgrazing and the use of pesticides and chemicals.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Hesse does a magnificent job telling the tale of Billie Jo. The story is narrated by Billie Jo and exposes the reader to the hardships of the Depression and dust bowl. Like the title says, Billie Jo longs to get out of the dust and leave Oklahoma behind. Sadly, leaving the past behind is harder than Billie Jo realizes. Readers will feel Billie’s pain when a tragic accident takes her mother's life. Hesse creates a distinctive voice in Billie Joe to describe the pain her mother is experiencing. “She can’t open her eyes, she cries out when the baby moves inside her, otherwise she moans, day and night. I wish the dust would plug my ears so I couldn’t hear her.” The words are simple, but the pain is real.
Hesse uses sense imagery to allow the reader to experience some of the dust bowl. When Billie Jo grits the sand in her teeth and blows brown mucus, every reader can feel the dust too.
The relationship between Billie Jo and her father is awkward and strained. Young adult readers will have no problem relating to this because many of them have tense relationships with their parents.
As realistic as the black and white picture on the front cover is of depicting conditions during the Depression, it will not entice students to pick up this book. Librarians are going to have to sell this book on its literary merit. Fortunately, the book will give readers a personal glimpse inside the Depression. Hesse makes references to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which add authenticity to the book. It could also make an excellent tie-in with an earth science lesson on overgrazing and the use of pesticides and chemicals.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
1998 Newberry Award Winner
Starred review in PUBLISHERS 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."
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “After facing loss after loss during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, Billie Jo begins to reconstruct her life. A triumphant story, eloquently told through prose-poetry.”
5. CONNECTIONS
* Show Great Depression photographs by Dorothea Lange, like MIGRANT MOTHER. Do the words in Hesse’s book look and feel like these photos?
* Read BUD, NOT BUDDY and discuss how Bud survived the Great Depression. Even though Bud is African American and Billie Jo is Caucasian, there are similarities in their struggles.
* Research Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Project Administration. Find out if there are any projects in your community that were built by these groups.
* Have students write their own free verse poetry. They should try to convey emotions and develop characters in the simple framework.
* Research the science behind what created the Oklahoma dust bowl. Could the dust bowl happen again?
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “After facing loss after loss during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, Billie Jo begins to reconstruct her life. A triumphant story, eloquently told through prose-poetry.”
5. CONNECTIONS
* Show Great Depression photographs by Dorothea Lange, like MIGRANT MOTHER. Do the words in Hesse’s book look and feel like these photos?
* Read BUD, NOT BUDDY and discuss how Bud survived the Great Depression. Even though Bud is African American and Billie Jo is Caucasian, there are similarities in their struggles.
* Research Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Project Administration. Find out if there are any projects in your community that were built by these groups.
* Have students write their own free verse poetry. They should try to convey emotions and develop characters in the simple framework.
* Research the science behind what created the Oklahoma dust bowl. Could the dust bowl happen again?
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