Out of the Dust

Bibliographic Information

Out of the Dust
Karen Hesse
Scholastic Press/New York/ 1997
ISBN: 0590360809
Classification: Fiction
Interest Level: Upper middle and Y.A

Plot Summary

This is a verse novel that is told by Billie Jo, a 14 year old girl living through the years known in Oklahoma as the Dust Bowl. Billie Jo describes the tough times faced by her family in a free verse form. Some of the difficulties arrise from the dust bowl and some Billie Jo attributes to her own shortcomings.

Critical Analysis

I have never been fond of verse novels so I had chosen in the past not to read this one. Was I wrong-this is a great book. Once I got caught up in the narrative I even forgot it was poetry. The narrative moves along well . Ms. Hesses is a master at weacing her words to create a real image of the time in which Billie Jo and her family struggled. The refences to the politics at the time were supportive of Billie's thinking and that of her community. Tjis added to the enjoyment for me as a history buff. This was I book I could not put down once I had begun the reading. I am only sorry I missed this opportunity much earlier in my life as a reader. I plan now to take a second look at other verse novels and use them in my teaching,

Review Excerpts

Booklist starred review. "A powerfully compelling tale of a firl with enormous strength, courage, and love,

Publishers Weekly- " Readers may find their own feelings swaying in beat with the heoine's shifting moods."

School Library Journal, starred review. " Free-verse poems... allow the narator to speak for herself much more e;pqiemt;ly than would be possible in standard prose."

Connections

This books lends itself to use in a social studies classroom, i.e. 5th grade when they study the dust bowl. By using this as an additional text the students will be able to be immersed in the time in a way not possible from just reading a standard text account. Some of the text can be read separately such as the chapter entitled, First Rain. It is a beautiful description of rain and how it effects the landscape covered in dust. "I hear the first drops/ Like the tapping of a stranger/ at the door of a a dream/ the rain changes everything' It strokes the roof,/streaking the dusty tin,/ponging/a concert of rain notes./ spilling from gutters. gushing through gullies/ soaking th thirsty earth outside.
In the literature classroom literary elements can be taught as the class reads through the text. A response journal would be an excellent way for students to respond to each chapter.