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Out of the Dust

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 29,787 ratings · 2,131 reviews

A poem cycle that reads as a novel, "Out of the Dust" tells the story of Billie Jo, a girl who struggles to help her family survive the dustbowl years of the Depression. Fighting against the elements on her Oklahoma farm, Billie Jo takes on even more responsibilities when her mother dies in a tragic accident. A testament to the American spirit, this novel is an instant cla...more

Paperback, 227 pages

Published January 1999 by Scholastic Paperbacks (first published January 1st 1997)

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Apr 22, 2011 Kwesi 章英狮 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, karen-hesse, 2011

I never enjoyed my history subject when I was young, I always have the worst teacher and the worst field trips in my entire life. Contradict to that, I enjoyed reading historical fiction and children's books. Although I don't have any idea about dust bowl or the great depression or whatever happened that time. I told you, I never learned something from my world history teacher. But after reading this book last year, I was amazed that Karen Hesse wrote something emotional for children to love and...more

13 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Kwesi

Shelves: childrens, newberry

This story is so dark and gruesome that if it were put in prose and not in verse, would probably not pass the standard of the judges for the Newberry Medal. Yes, this won that medal (1998) because the beautiful verses toned down the gloom and sadness that even a middle-age man Asian guy like me felt while imagining what happened to the Kelby family during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl in 1934-1935. It is just too sad that even the harrowing experience of the Joad family in John Steinbeck’s magnum opus,...more

18 likes · like · see review

May 27, 2011 jzhunagev rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Children who would like to know about life in Depression-era, Dust Bowl Oklahoma

Recommended to jzhunagev by: Kwesi Ian Jay Junsan

Shelves: 2011-reads, award-winning-best-seller, drama, fiction-contemporary, historical-fiction, poems, young-adult

Because of Dust
(A Book Review of Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust)

Since reading John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, I’ve often wondered how life could’ve been to the Oklahoman farmers and families who opted not to leave their land. Karen Hesse, in her 1998 Newbery Medal book Out of the Dust, gives us a glimpse of the rigors of farm life in the Depression-era, Dust Bowl Oklahoma through the eyes of Billie Jo as her father scrapes a meager living out of the parched, drought-stricken fields while she gr...more

8 likes · like · see review

May 25, 2008 Connor rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is so depressing I wanted to shoot myself.

12 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2008 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Middle Schoolers

Shelves: juvenile-fiction

This book is set in the Oklahoma panhandle during the 1930's. Preteen Bille Jo and her family struggle to cope with the loss of their farm, scarcity of food, and the endless swirling dust storms that dominate life in this setting. Then tragedy strikes; Billie Jo's mother and baby brother are killed in a sudden accident and Billie Jo's hands are seriously burned. Billie Jo's father withdraws into grief and depression while Billie Jo wrestles with her own guilt and physical disability. Ultimately,...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 13, 2008 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: newbery, poetry, historical-fiction, children

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Very interesting story set in mid-1930s Oklahoma during the times of the “Dust Bowl,” a continuous series of dust storms that rolled across the prairies, leaving ruined crops, ruined people, and ruined families in their wake. The book is written as a sequential series of free-verse poetry, individual poems with individual titles that describe the days of 16-year-old Billie Jo, who loves school and playing the piano. And then, even worse than the dust, Billie Jo’s mother, heavily pregnant, suffer...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2012 Maddi Couture rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love this book but it is way to sad. The one thing I really like about it is the suspence. It makes me want to read more and pages of it. My mom has to pry me out of the book.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 23, 2013 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*Susan Hart
*Hesse, Karen (1997). Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Press.
*Poetry
*1998 Newbery Award, Scott O'Dell Award
*Print
*Selected from awards list
*Billy Joe is 13 in 1934, the year that the Dust comes to her home on the plains of Oklahoma. In her diary-like entries, she describes a lot to be hopeful for in her life regardless of the persistent blowing dust; her mother is pregnant, her piano playing fills her soul and brings a little money into the home, and her father is an experienced,...more

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Feb 08, 2009 karrie's corner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: grades-4-5, newbery-winner, stories-drama, stories-historical

It's hard to believe that Oklahoma was a dust bowl in the '30s, because it doesn't seem to be that way now. Towns, buildings, population and changes in the environment seem to left the dust bowl, well, in the dust.

Billie Jo tells the story of her life as a young girl living during the Depression in the dust bowl. Her descriptions of dust outlining her body as she slept, being in her food as she eats dinner, and making her eyes feel gritty leaves the reader feeling as if you're there. The entir...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Danylle Dupris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked out "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. At first I didn't think it was going to be that good of a book. As I read on though, I realized it was actually really good. This girl named Billie Jo plays the piano. She is really good at playing the piano. As her mom was making coffee she ended up spilling hot kerosene all over her stomach with the baby still inside, along with Billie Jo's hands. Billie Jo thought she would help to throw it out but burnt herself and her mom instead. Polly, the mo...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 23, 2008 Tyson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe I would like this more if I read it now on my own. As it is, I read it in high school and hated every second of it. Most depressing thing I've ever read in my life. I understand that living in the Oklahoma dust bowl would be horrible but that's not the depressing part...

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 07, 2013 Nataliacervanteclarke.k12.ga.us rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was really inspiring to me because it shows the struggle of a girl that can do anything. I really loved this book. This book changed from different emotion. Like happy,sad,regret,anger and most of all love. All of the things that happened in the book were really unbelievable because there was a dust storm, her mother died and her little brother, her hands were all screwed up, her stopped talking to her and she decided to run away but came back. I mean all of this happens in a movie not...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Lauren rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 22, 2008 Panagiota rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: poetry

My notes: This book is well written because the reader is endulged in life during the Great Depression. Billie Jo's family goes through many hardships and has to figure out how to live with great trajedies. It is a very insightful book. I would definitely use this book complementing another book about the Great Depression. The book is written in a series of many poems about Billie Jo and her family. I really liked the pages where when you turn the book, it's a set of piano keys that Billi Jo pla...more

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Feb 19, 2008 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A story, written in poetry, about a teenage girl growing up in the plains during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. I was pleased to discover that this book wasn’t some imitation of classic Dust-Bowl literature — i.e. Grapes of Wrath. Not that I didn’t enjoy Grapes of Wrath; I just couldn’t get too excited about reading it again. Nor did I want to read a collection of unrelated poems compiled into a volume of sadness. Sad makes me feel guilty: “you think you’ve got it bad, with your $2/gal...more

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Dec 09, 2009 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, ya-lit, coming-of-age

Billie Jo is coming of age in Dust-torn Oklahoma, where things like playing piano and occasionally glimpsing an art exhibit brighten a lifestyle otherwise constantly browned by layers of dust. Her life changes drastically when an kerosene accident scars her piano-hands and kills her mother and soon-to-be baby brother. Through the filter of dust and hardship around her, Billie Jo comes to terms with her new life, learning not to let go of dreams and that you can stay in one place and still grow....more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 14, 2009 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, newberymedal

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 03, 2009 Dena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow - I picked it up because my neice Molly had written in a letter that she was reading it. I treated myself to a trip to the library on New Year's Eve when I got out of work several hours early and picked it up. When I paged through it, I wasn't enthused because it was written in poetic prose format. Didn't think I'd like it. I was wrong. It was a fantastic story and told in a remarkable way. Sadness, grief, frustration, hopelessness and then hope. Pretty heavy stuff for adults let alone fifth...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 02, 2009 Natalie Ethington rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

teenager survives the dust bowl. Written in poetry form with sparse language usage. Very powerful, sad, hopeful, etc. LOVED IT!

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 02, 2013 Ondina Funez rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was great. I enjoyed the passion of the poems and the intensity of the words used in the passages.It was almost as if I could feel what Billie Jo was feeling and what her surroundings were like. This book reminded me of the film; The Secret Life of Bees, because it has so many similarities and comparisons.I think you should read this book because it is easy for you to understand it whether your an adult or a young teen. Once you read the book, I hope you understand what I mean by the i...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Talara Harper rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: out-of-the-dust

I enjoyed reading this book. I think it is the best book we have read together as a class. I like the way the text is. It makes me more interested in reading when its not the plain old text. This book had vignettes and was emotional.

1 like · like · see review

Jun 02, 2013 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Billie Jo pushes herself against the winds, harshened by dust, following the trail she has walked hundreds of times before—only this time, it’s dust…. Out of the Dust is a wonderful story, filled with tragedies and strong emotions. Throughout the story, the characters learn to allow second chances, accept others, and find happiness in their broken world.

This book is set in the 1930’s during the Dust Bowl. The characters view their environment as a dystopia, but had...more Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Billie Jo pushes herself against the winds, harshened by dust, following the trail she has walked hundreds of times before—only this time, it’s dust…. Out of the Dust is a wonderful story, filled with tragedies and strong emotions. Throughout the story, the characters learn to allow second chances, accept others, and find happiness in their broken world.

This book is set in the 1930’s during the Dust Bowl. The characters view their environment as a dystopia, but had a glimpse of hope for a better life—until one tragedy crushed any chance of leaving. The characters do not have the money that is needed in order to escape the dust, so they must either learn to live with suffocating dust perpetually present, or die.

The main character and narrator is a young teenager girl named Billie Jo. Billie Jo was born during the beginning of the Dust Bowl. She witnessed many horrors throughout her life, but none as horrific as the pale of kerosene. Ma, Billie Jo’s mother, was preparing breakfast when her father put a pale of kerosene on the kitchen table. Ma, thinking that the kerosene was water, poured it into a pan, which immediately caught on fire. Ma and Daddy rushed outside, but Billie Jo took the pale of burning kerosene and threw it, not knowing that it would ignite her pregnant Ma.

There are many lessons that can be taken away from this book. One is to be happy with what you have, no matter how little it may be. Billie Jo was always wishing for a better life while she still had her intact family, spare money, and a little food. But when Ma died, the family fell apart, Daddy got drunk on the emergency money, and the dust killed all the wheat. Billie Jo was never happy with what she had before Ma’s death, but she should have been, now that she has seen what life can really look like.

The readers won’t be able to pull themselves out of this extraordinarily well developed world! The book is suspenseful because the reader will wonder what will happen next, what the characters will do, or even if, at a moment’s notice, a dust storm will blacken the sky and thicken the air just too much to take another breath. While reading this book, the reader will get to experience a world that many have only heard about. If you are looking for an outstanding, classic, realistic fiction verse novel, you will love this book. It would be of interest to middle schoolers through adults of any age.

The book is uniquely formatted as a collection of poems that come together to form the beautiful story. The format of the book makes it quick to read, but will confuse any reader who has not become accustom to reading verse novels. Despite the format, the story is fantastic and deserves five pianos. (less)

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May 10, 2013 Marcia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Marcia Vining

Hesse, K. (1997). Out of the dust. New York: Scholastic.

Poetry

Newberry Winner

Print

Lemke, S., (1997). Out of the dust. Booklist (94/3).

Using poetry to clear the clutter of extra words, Karen Hesse conveys the desolation of the Dust Bowl with painful clarity. Out of the Dust is a difficult story that would be impossible without the picture the reader gets of Billie Jo, who survives her life and experiences without much help from anyone. Condemned by the community, emotionally abando...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Karen Henspeter rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

o Full name: Karen Henspeter

o APA citation: Hesse, K. (1998). Out of the dust. New York, NY: Scholastic Press

o Genre: Poetry/Verse

o Award (if applicable): 1998 Newbery Award

o Format: Print

o Selection process: Bringelson, C., & Glass, N. (2009). Karen Hesse and Matt Phelan Discover the Dust Bowl. School Library Monthly, 26(3), 27, award recipient (1998 Newbery Award)

o Review:
This beautifully crafted novel, written in the first person, tells the touching story of fourteen-year-old Billie Jo K...more o Full name: Karen Henspeter

o APA citation: Hesse, K. (1998). Out of the dust. New York, NY: Scholastic Press

o Genre: Poetry/Verse

o Award (if applicable): 1998 Newbery Award

o Format: Print

o Selection process: Bringelson, C., & Glass, N. (2009). Karen Hesse and Matt Phelan Discover the Dust Bowl. School Library Monthly, 26(3), 27, award recipient (1998 Newbery Award)

o Review:
This beautifully crafted novel, written in the first person, tells the touching story of fourteen-year-old Billie Jo Kelby, a talented piano player and gifted student. She and her family, who own a wheat farm in Oklahoma, watch their dreams blow away piece by piece during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930’s. They taste tragedy when Billie Jo’s pregnant mother is badly burned by a flaming bucket of kerosene. While trying to prevent the fire from spreading, Billie Jo accidentally worsens the accident, and she too is burned. Later, Billie Jo’s mother dies while giving birth, along with the baby. Her own wounds keep her from playing the piano, one of her deepest joys and few sources of hope left in the wind-blown prairie. Her life is haunted by guilt, painful memories, and physical anguish.

Billie Jo attempts to play the piano again for a competition, but the experience leaves her broken. Fearful thoughts that her distant father might also die eat at her mind. Eventually, after trying to run away, she begins to process her grief, coming to realize that she cannot escape her past. Slowly, hope is reborn in Billie Jo’s heart, and she learns to forgive herself, her father, and the hostility of her surroundings. Readers will be drawn to Billie Jo’s honest voice. She withholds nothing in her journal entries, allowing readers to walk with her in sorrow. Yet on the same token, Billie Jo somehow never fully loses sight of hope. She bravely walks through grief, leading her readers to do the same.

o Highly Recommend*
* Hesse beautifully crafts a story of brutal reality and undying hope. The free verse format is both refreshing and intriguing.
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Apr 12, 2013 Chloe Austin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the book Out Of The Dust by Karen Hesse. There was this fourteen year old girl named Billie Jo that lived in Oklahoma were there was a dust bowl. Her father caused the accident that killed her mother. One day she was at school and the dust bowl came while she was doing her six week test. I loved this book.

I loved this book because it was interesting to me because she acts just like me. She also acts just like me. At fourteen Billie Jo has a great deal to forgive people. I loved this boo...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Erika Lawrence added it · review of another edition

Erika Lawrence

Hesse, Karen (1997). Out of the Dust. New York, NY: Scholastic Press

Narrative Poetry

Print

Selection Process: Something About the Author. Detroit: Gale Research

Review

Written in narrative poetry this is a novel about a teenage girl, Billie Jo Kelby. Her family lives in the dust-ridden panhandle of Oklahoma where dust is everywhere and rain is sparse. These conditions make growing crops extremely difficult for her father who is a farmer and her mother who tends to their home. In 1934,...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Gale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: prairie-rural-young-adult, newbery-books

"Seeking Poetry in Life’s Hidden Treasures"

This 1998 Newbery award winner presents a poignant, down-to--earth account of a year in the devastating life of 14-year-old Billie Jo, growing up during the 1930’s Depression. After a prolonged drought Oklahoma has become a veritable dust bowl, where few crops are able to grow—certainly not her father’s wheat. Financial despair is made evident by thick coatings of dust on every thing in both her exterior and interior environments. There is no escape...more
"Seeking Poetry in Life’s Hidden Treasures"

This 1998 Newbery award winner presents a poignant, down-to--earth account of a year in the devastating life of 14-year-old Billie Jo, growing up during the 1930’s Depression. After a prolonged drought Oklahoma has become a veritable dust bowl, where few crops are able to grow—certainly not her father’s wheat. Financial despair is made evident by thick coatings of dust on every thing in both her exterior and interior environments. There is no escape from the inexorable indifference of Nature.

The protagonist’s situation becomes even more lamentable
as a result of a tragic household accident which scarred four lives:
kerosene mistaken for water left on a stove. Billie Jo’s only solace in this dust bowl is playing the family’s modest piano, but in addition to the needless loss of life after the fire, Billie Jo suffers the use of her hands so she no longer can escape her misery at the keyboard. Disfigured, shunned by her peers and rejected by her morose father, she yearns to get out of the Dust any way possible. Doesn’t she have a right to leave the devastation behind her, to seek a new life where she can finally breathe free?

The author’s literary style offers teenage readers an additional challenge, for this unique book consists of a series of free verse poems--rather than traditional narrative prose. Teens typically experience difficulty redefining their relationships with their parents, but Billie Jo—who adores her mother despite their musical differences—is consumed by guilt over her inadvertent role in the family tragedy. While extremely depressing on the surface the plot (Nature’s remorseless unrolling of pain and sorrow upon hapless people) hints of distant hope for the human spirit. Despite the bitter realism this book will leave most readers with a reminder that we should cherish what we most value in this life while we are privileged to have and recognize it. Serious YA fare in a spare and unique format.

(May 30, 2010. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

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Mar 12, 2013 Mason Spaulding rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Typically, I don't like to read poems. But this novel is different. The thing that I hate about poems is that they always seem to have to rhime. Out of the Dust just writes it like a regular book.

Billie Jo is the main character. She's fourteen and lives with her parents on a farm in Oklahoma. When her mom was pregnant with her, her dad wanted a boy, which is why her name is Billie Jo. She struggles with a lot. Mostly how to survive the Dust Bowl and the depression like most people at the time. A...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Jenica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-edci-311, poetry, historical-fiction, chapter-book

Annotation:
Out of the Dust is an in-depth story of a family during the Dust Bowl. Billie Jo is the main character for the story. It follows her trials through the loss of her mother and baby brother. Through this Billie Jo must learn to forgive herself for causing her mothers death. This book gives many details about the Dust Bowl and what life in the Dust Bowl was like. It allows the reader to feel the agony as Billie Jo sees a storm rolling in.
This book is written in Poetry form, each page st...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Susan Oliver rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Ages 14 and up but only if you are not depressed and have a strong stomach

Recommended to Susan by: My 4th-grade son's teacher was reading it in class

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book has such graphic and sickening descriptions and is so full of depression, destruction, and gore that I wouldn't even want a college class to be required to read it, much less 4th-graders, who are not ready to handle that kind of a book.

My 4th-grade son came home really upset about a book that his teacher was reading aloud to them in class called "Out of Dust". He had nightmares that night and has refused to go to bed alone since then. I was up most of the night every night since then g...more

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About Karen Hesse

Karen Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings. Her novel Out of the Dust was the winner of the 1998 Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. In 2002, Hesse was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.

For more information, please see http://us.macmillan.com/author/karenh...

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Books by Karen Hesse

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Quotes from Out of the Dust

“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.” — 35 people liked it

“And I know now that all the time I was trying to get
out of the dust,
the fact is,
what I am,
I am because of the dust.
And what I am is good enough.
Even for me.” — 20 people liked it

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