Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse. ISBN # 0-590-37125-8

This novel, about a family who stays behind during the Dust Bowl, is historical fiction at its best. Our heroine, Billie Jo goes through one tragedy after another, but she stays determined. She tells her story through a series of free verse poems. This bleak tale stays true to the actual events that happened in the mid-thirties.

Billie Jo’s mother is eight months pregnant when Billie Jo accidentally throws a flaming bucket of kerosene at her. The badly burned mother dies giving birth to a baby who also soon dies. Billie Jo, formerly a very good piano player, is unable to play with her severely burned hands, and her father is barely able to communicate with her after the death of his wife. To add to this, the dust storms, drought, and failed crops make the situation hopeless.

This book does not have a happy ending, but Billie Jo manufactures a glimmer of hope through her poetry.

Karen Hesse has a way of making the setting and the characters come alive. I got real tense when Billie Jo’s father wouldn’t talk after the death of his wife, and I could almost taste the dust when I was reading this book.