OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse

Bibliography

Hesse, Karen. 1997. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780590371254

Critical Analysis

Out of the Dust brings to life the story of a family suffering through the worst drought in our country’s history. Hesse uses free form poetry to tell the story of a young teenage girl going through the process of forgiving her father and herself for an accident that ended up taking her mother’s life. The poems vary in structure, some being short and straight to the point, others longer and more descriptive, both matching the mood and emotions of Billie Jo, the narrator. Hesse mixes together simple, clear language with figurative language to add to the emotional shifts in the story. Hesse uses to the variance in structure and language to help the reader connect Billie Jo as she struggles to make sense of the grief and guilt she is feeling as well as the frustration and despair all of those who live in the Oklahoma panhandle felt during the Dust Bowl.

Example

This verse novel would be an excellent way to show how hard the Dust Bowl was on families and put it in a perspective students could relate to. This would be good novel choice for middle school children who are studying American history at this time. While Hesse does explain the reasons for the Dust Bowl as her main character Billie Jo is learning about its cause, she is able to capture the emotional impact that it had on families who suffered through it. There are several poem throughout the novel that describe what it was like to have a blizzard of dust come blowing through, not only the towns, but the houses and buildings as well. Her descriptions of how the dust was everywhere, including in the food they had to eat, would help bring this era to life for students who might struggle to understand how bad it was.

Here is a portion of a poem titled “Dust Storm” (p. 143).

Brown earth rained down
from sky.
I could not catch my breath
the way the dust pressed on my chest
and wouldn’t stop.
The dirt blew down so thick
it scratched my eyes
and stung my tender skin,
it plugged my nose and filled inside my mouth.
No matter how I pressed my lips together,
the dust made muddy tracks
across my tongue.