Out of the Dust is the 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel by Karen Hesse. Thirteen year-old Billie Jo narrates the events of her life from January 1934 to December 1935, a time frame in which a tragic accident claims the life of her mother and unborn baby brother, leaving Billie Jo and her father alone in the middle of the Dust Bowl.
Billie Jo was a good student and talented piano player, so when her hands are severely burned in the accident, music--her emotional outlet--is taken from her. While Billie Jo still had her father, his own overwhelming sorrow and guilt leave her feeling as though she is just another burden he must bear. Only when she tries to run away from the dust and all it brings does Billie Jo realize that home is a part of you that can't be escaped.
Hesse's poems are written in a simple language the reflects the emotions of Billie Jo. Through her narration, we see her grief, her inability to communicate with her father, and her frustration with her new limitations. In "Those Hands," she mourns the changes in her life saying, "My father used to say, why not put those hands to good use?/He doesn't say anything about 'those hands' anymore." Even the figurative language used fits with the tone established by the desolate wasteland of the plains. For example, in "Homeward Bound," Billie Jo describes being away from home as "Lonelier than the wind./Emptier than the sky./More silent than the dust," illustrating the pervasiveness of dust, isolation, and desperation during the time frame.
Out of the Dust is a perfect novel to introduce middle grade readers to the devastation of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. It combines an accurate depiction of the historical context and the classic themes of school, guilt, parent/child conflict, growing up, and suffering loss that many young readers will identify with.
Example Poem
Fifty Miles South of Amarillo
In Amarillo,
wind
blew plate-glass windows in,
tore electric signs down,
ripped wheat
straight out of the ground.
February 1934
Activity
Before sharing this poem with students, find out what they already know about the Dust Bowl. You may need to supply some basic facts about the desolate conditions of the land in Oklahoma and surrounding states. You may wish to show students historical photographs like those available in the photo gallery on the website for Ken Burns's documentary The Dust Bowl (Available here.) Be sure to preview the images to make sure they are appropriate for your audience.
Read the poem aloud with students as they follow along with a printed or projected copy. First, read just so students get a feel for the poem, and then read again 1-2 times, encouraging students to note the location, the subject of the poem, and the actions of that subject. As an extension, have students view additional photographs from the Dust Bowl or other significant periods in history. Allow them to create original poems to share what they can determine about the location or setting, subject, and actions detectible in the photograph. Pictures and poems can be shared by displaying them in the library classroom or hallway.
"The Dust Bowl: Photo Gallery." PBS.org. http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/photos/ (retrieved March 24, 2017).
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