Author: Karen Hesse
Title: Out of the Dust
Illustrator: N/A
Readability score: Grade 6 to Grade 8
Genre: Fiction
Subgenre: Historical
Theme: Out of the dust comes growth.
Primary and secondary characters: Billie Jo, Ma, Daddy, Franklin, Miss Freeland, Mad Dog, Arley. Louise
Awards: Newbery Honor Award, Scott O'Dell Award
Date of Publication: 1997
Publishing company: Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN number: 0-590-37125-8
Billie Jo grew up in the time of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in Oklahoma. Her life is bleak and dusty, but she has her parents and her piano to keep her happy. Ma is strict on Billie Jo, never allowing her to play the piano even though she is a great musician. Billie Jo describes the terrible dust storms that smother chickens, strip the land, and leave everything covered in mounds of dust. The family is slowing losing hope when Ma announces she is pregnant. Billie Jo is happy to have a brother or sister. Her world is turned upside down when a pail of kerosene catches on fire in the kitchen. She tries to put it out but burns her hands badly and catches her mother on fire. Ma is unrecognizable. She still carries the baby, but she dies from her wounds and labor. Billie Jo's baby brother dies a few hours later. Daddy and Billie Jo are devastated. She cannot talk to her father, because she blames herself. She can't even play the piano anymore. Her hands are ruined. Billie Jo decides to run away. She makes it to Arizona, but she realizes she can't leave her home and the dust. It is her whole world. When she comes back two days later, her father is waiting for her. They begin to rekindle their relationship. Billie Jo begins to play the piano again, the rains come bringing hope, and Daddy finds a new love in Louise. Billie Jo has come out of the dust.
This story is a harrowing account of an aspect of the Great Depression era that many people do not think about: the Dust Bowl. The amount of dust that blew across the plains stripped the land of nutrients and made it infertile, furthering the economic depression. Many people starved or died from the dust storms. Life was unbearable. This story is a short read that captures the reader's attention immediately. Sixth grade students would appreciate Billie Jo's story because she was about their age. I would ask the students upon reading the story to research the Dust Bowl. I would ask them to report on how Roosevelt handled the Dust Bowl. What was done to alleviate the dust? Each literature club would have a different question to research. They will present their findings to the rest of the class. This activity is more effective than the teacher simply teaching the events of the Great Depression to the students because they are teaching it to themselves.
Billie Jo grew up in the time of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in Oklahoma. Her life is bleak and dusty, but she has her parents and her piano to keep her happy. Ma is strict on Billie Jo, never allowing her to play the piano even though she is a great musician. Billie Jo describes the terrible dust storms that smother chickens, strip the land, and leave everything covered in mounds of dust. The family is slowing losing hope when Ma announces she is pregnant. Billie Jo is happy to have a brother or sister. Her world is turned upside down when a pail of kerosene catches on fire in the kitchen. She tries to put it out but burns her hands badly and catches her mother on fire. Ma is unrecognizable. She still carries the baby, but she dies from her wounds and labor. Billie Jo's baby brother dies a few hours later. Daddy and Billie Jo are devastated. She cannot talk to her father, because she blames herself. She can't even play the piano anymore. Her hands are ruined. Billie Jo decides to run away. She makes it to Arizona, but she realizes she can't leave her home and the dust. It is her whole world. When she comes back two days later, her father is waiting for her. They begin to rekindle their relationship. Billie Jo begins to play the piano again, the rains come bringing hope, and Daddy finds a new love in Louise. Billie Jo has come out of the dust.
This story is a harrowing account of an aspect of the Great Depression era that many people do not think about: the Dust Bowl. The amount of dust that blew across the plains stripped the land of nutrients and made it infertile, furthering the economic depression. Many people starved or died from the dust storms. Life was unbearable. This story is a short read that captures the reader's attention immediately. Sixth grade students would appreciate Billie Jo's story because she was about their age. I would ask the students upon reading the story to research the Dust Bowl. I would ask them to report on how Roosevelt handled the Dust Bowl. What was done to alleviate the dust? Each literature club would have a different question to research. They will present their findings to the rest of the class. This activity is more effective than the teacher simply teaching the events of the Great Depression to the students because they are teaching it to themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment