Out of the Dust
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Karen Hesse |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Scholastic Press |
| Released | 1997 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 227 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-590-36080-9 (first edition, hardback) |
Out of the Dust is a novel written by Karen Hesse. It was winner of the Newbery Medal in 1998, Scott O'Dell Award, an ALA Notable Children's Book, an ALA "Best book for young adults", a School Library Journal "best book of the year", a Booklist "Editors' Choice" award, a Book Links "Lasting Connection", a Publishers Weekly "best book of the year", and a New York Public Library "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing" selection.
Set in Oklahoma during the years 1934-1935, this book tells the story of a family of farmers during the dust bowl years. The structure of the novel is unusual in that the plot is advanced entirely through a series of free verse poems.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The protagonist is 14-year-old Billie Jo Kelby, who lives with her family in the gritty farmlands of Oklahoma. The family struggles to eke out a living from the farm. One of Billie Jo's solaces is playing her mother's piano.
Billie Jo's mother, Polly, is pregnant. Although everyone in the family looks forward to the birth, none are more anxious than Billie Jo's father, Bayard Kelby, who hopes this birth will finally give him the son he's been waiting for to help him on the field.
Late in the pregnancy, an accident occurs. Billie Jo's father carelessly leaves a bucket of kerosene near the stove. During the preparation of coffee for the father, the mother thinks the bucket contains water, and she puts it on the stove. After it bursts into flames, Billie Jo's mother rushes outside the house to escape the fire. Billie Jo, unaware that her mother has turned to come back into the house, flings the burning kerosene outside, covering her mother with the flaming fuel. Horrified, Billie Jo futilely attempts to smother the flames with her bare hands, badly burning herself in the process. Her mother's injuries prove fatal: she dies while giving birth a few days later. The newborn, Franklin, dies soon after.
Billie Jo's emotions alternate between guilt, sorrow, and anger at her father for leaving the kerosene by the fire in the first place. Her father seems unable to provide her with support and understanding. Frustrated by her father's emotional distance, and angry that she is no longer able to play the piano because of her scarred hands, Billie Jo runs away from home. Her exit is brief: she soon returns home because "I didn't see anything better than what I already had. Home."
The story is both heartbreaking yet anticipant as the story pulls you in as Billie Jo overcomes the conflicts of being a motherless girl in a dust storm.
[edit] Characters
Billie Jo was a thirteen year old amateur pianist. She was happy at heart until a terrible mistake, made by her father scarred her life forever. With her mother gone, her father silent, and burnt hands that restricted her from playing the piano, Billie Jo was left by herself to cope with the pain and sorrow of life in the Dust Bowl.
Ma was a kind, loving, caring, and devoted mother and wife. She enjoyed playing the piano before her untimely death. This left Pa and Billie Joe without someone to take care of them. She was the central figure in the family and it fell apart after she was gone.
Pa was Billie Jo's stubborn father. He had a great family until his wife and newborn son died. This caused a significant change in Pa and he had many emotional problems. He was depressed and felt he had nothing to live for. He no longer cared for Billie Jo and spent his time and money out drinking. He also blamed Billie Jo for Ma's death. This resulted in a separation and increased tension between the two. They rarely talked and eventually this caused Billie Jo to run away. In the end, after caring for his skin cancer, Pa changed and welcomed Billie Jo back into his life by resuming communications with her.
Louise was Pa's new girlfriend. She was loving and kind, just as Ma had been. Louise understood that Ma died, and it was difficult for Billie Jo to accept her at first. In the end, they build a strong relationship on respect and love for one another and for Pa.
Mad Dog was a loyal friend of Billie Jo. When he was two years old, he would bite anything he could get a hold of. This resulted in his nickname, Mad Dog. Billie Jo developed a crush on Mad Dog as they grew close while playing in a band together.
Miss Freeland was like a second mother to Billie Jo. She was a teacher at Billie Jo's school and was a kind and caring woman who helped strangers in any way she could.
[edit] Theme
Theme is the main lesson or message of a story. Out of the Dust has several themes present based on the people and events in the novel. Some of the themes include:
Community was evident throughout the story. People were forced to help out other members of the community during the Dust Storms of the 1930's. Families and neighbors worked together to survive and this is evident when Ma and Pa helped out a stranger who approached their house. This young boy was looking for work in exchange for food and clothing. He was on his way to California to escape the dust. Even though the Kelby family didn't have a lot for themselves, they still found ways to help others. Ma also donated some apples and baby clothes she knitted to a family in need.
Forgiveness is another theme. Pa and Billie Jo had to forgive themselves for their role in Ma's death. Billie Jo also forgave Pa for spending the emergency money and leaving Ma while she was in desperate need after the fire. They also had to forgive one another in hopes of staying together and working effecively as a family.
[edit] Setting
One of the most catastrophic events in the 1900's occurred in an area of the United States called the Dust Bowl. Primarily, it affected Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The Dust Storms created destructive weather conditions like blizzards, rain, and a severe drought. Farmers were unable to grow crops, such as wheat and corn. It caused many people to migrate to other parts of the country including California. One of the worst storms occurred on "Black Sunday." On April 14, 1935 blankets of black blizzards blocked out the sun during the middle of the day. It's damage was not calculated for months and was the major storm of the year.
[edit] Literary Devices
Literary devices are techniques that authors use to help the reader visualize and understand the text. Literary devices also help the reader to actively read, which promotes comprehension.
Simile - comparing two things using the terms "like" or "as." Uncle Floyd is as mean as a rattler. The author is trying to say that Uncle Floyd is a very mean person by comparing him to a rattlesnake.
Metaphor - comparing two things not using the terms "like" or "as." Ma was a striped melon. This means that Ma was so dirty from the dust that when it rained, it washed away parts of the dirt, which left her with stripes. The author was trying to make the story more understandable by creating a picture of Ma in the reader's mind.
Personification - when an inanimate object is given human qualities. The lightning danced on its spindly legs. This means that the lightning was illuninating the sky and seemed as if it was everywhere.
Symbolism - when something represents, or stand for something else. The night bloomer was a flower that bloomed one night before dying when the sun came up the following day. This flower symbolized hope because typically a flower like that would not be able to survive in all of the dust storms, heat, and drought.
Onomatopoeia - sound words. The stairs creaked. The author is intending to include sound words so the reader can picture what life was really like during this time period. The stairs were old and creaked when people walked on them.
Imagery - when the author utilizes vivid, descriptive language so the reader can visualize the people and events in the text. She was bear as a pear, raindrops sliding down her skin, leaving traces of mud on her face and her long back, trickling dark and light paths, slow tracks of wet dust down the bulge of her belly. My dazzling Ma. The author utilizes descriptive language so the reader can picture what Ma actually looked like at one point in the story.
[edit] About the Author
Karen Hesse dreamed of becoming many things including an archaeologist, an ambassador, an actor, and an author. During elementary school, her teachers encouraged her to write and fully supported her. Everyday when she came home from school, she would lock herself in her closet to express feelings by writing poetry. Her 5th grade teacher believed that Karen Hesse would grow up to become a good writer, and it took her 30 years to fulfill this dream.
In 1969, she attended Towson State College as a theater major, but later on she transferred to the University of Maryland. She eventually earned a B.A. in English with double minors in Psychology and Anthropology. Before Hesse was an author, she had numerous jobs that dealt with books including a proofreader and a librarian.
When Karen Hesse heard about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, she was full of disbelief concerning the events that occurred during this time period. While reading a magazine article, she constructed the idea for writing Out of the Dust.
Karen Hesse is also the author of Wish on a Unicorn, The Music of the Dolphins, Letters from Rifka, Witness, Come on Rain, Phoenix Rising, Times of an Angel, A Light in the Storm, Stowaway, and Just Juice. Today, she lives with her husband and two daughters in Brattleboro, Vermont.
| Preceded by The View from Saturday |
Newbery Medal recipient 1998 |
Succeeded by Holes |
