OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse

Out of the Dust chronicles two years in the life of Billie Jo. Born in 1920 in the panhandle of Oklahoma, her Daddy wants a boy but gets red-haired, freckle-faced Billie Jo instead. Her Ma has one indulgence, playing the piano, a passion she passes on to Billie Jo.

By the time Billie Jo is fourteen the depression and the dust have done its best to beat the family down, but despite life's hardships they still have hope. The dust from the drought has made the milk chewy, but at least they have milk. Billie Jo is getting paid to play the piano; something she would do for free, but the money is welcome. And, after years of trying and almost giving up, Ma is expecting another baby. Maybe this time Daddy will get the boy he has always wanted.

Tragedy strikes when a fire takes the baby and Ma from Daddy, and burns Billie Jo’s hands so badly she cannot play the piano. Now both Billie Jo and her Daddy have to decide whether it is best to run from trouble or stay and see things through.

Children 5th grade and up will identify with headstrong Billie Jo who wants her parents’ approval and love, but also wants the freedom to be herself. Older children will appreciate the symbolism within Hesse's free-verse poetry. The sod symbolizes the people who steadfastly care for their children and the land while never losing hope. The dust symbolizes the people who have lost hope; swirling with no anchor and increasing the hardship of those they have left behind.

The setting is 1930s Oklahoma, but the struggle to maintain hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is timeless. Billie Jo’s dilemma is the universal struggle of whether to stay and help the people who depend on you or to think only of yourself and run away.

Billie Jo sums up the spirit of Out of the Dust with these words:

The way I see it, hard times aren’t only
about money,
or drought,
or dust,
Hard times are about losing spirit,
and hope,
and what happens when dreams dry up.

Review excerpt from 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."
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic, 1997.