Out of the Dust

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, March 1999 (Vol. 33, No. 2))
This novel has won just about all the possible prizes, including the Newbery Medal, so most of you must already know about it. This trade paperback edition is sturdy, with a picture of Billie Jo in a straw hat on the cover. It should hold up well for classroom use, which is a certainty. The story of tragedy, despair, and finally hope is told in poetry form, with Billie Jo as the youthful narrator, her story unfolding in chapters. The story begins as Billie Jo is 14 years old, with her parents barely eking out an existence in dust-choked Oklahoma in the 1930s. Her mother is pregnant, her father works stubbornly on their failing farm, and Billie Jo gets some joy out of playing the piano and earning some money. This life seems grim, but it gets even grimmer when an accident scars Billie Jo's hands and causes her mother's death. How she recovers from the pain and the guilt, and how she and her father remain on the farm, with the dust ever thicker, smothering them, is the struggle of the story. Students will be fascinated that Hesse tells this gripping, emotional story through poetry; and the form will inspire them and their teachers to explore poetry in their own storytelling. KLIATT Codes: J*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. 1997, Scholastic Apple/Signature, 227p. 20cm, $4.99. Ages 13 to 15.

Susan Dove Lempke (Booklist, October 1, 1997 (Vol. 94, No. 3))
Daddy came in, / he sat across from Ma and blew his nose. / Mud streamed out. / He coughed and spit out / mud. / If he had cried, / his tears would have been mud too, / but he didn't cry. / And neither did Ma." This is life in the Oklahoma dust bowl in the mid-1930s. Billie Jo and her parents barely eke out a living from the land, as her father refuses to plant anything but wheat, and the winds and dust destroy the crop time after time. Playing the piano provides some solace, but there is no comfort to be had once Billie Jo's pregnant mother mistakes a bucket of kerosene for a bucket of water and dies, leaving a husband who withdraws even further and an adolescent daughter with terribly burned hands. The story is bleak, but Hesse's writing transcends the gloom and transforms it into a powerfully compelling tale of a girl with enormous strength, courage, and love. The entire novel is written in very readable blank verse, a superb choice for bringing out the exquisite agony and delight to be found in such a difficult period lived by such a vibrant character. It also spares the reader the trouble of wading through pages of distressing text, distilling all the experiences into brief, acutely observed phrases. This is an excellent book for discussion, and many of the poems stand alone sufficiently to be used as powerful supplements to a history lesson. Category: Older Readers. 1997, Scholastic, $15.95. Gr. 6-9.