Out of the Dust is a 1934 historical fiction novel written by Karen Hesse. The setting of the novel is in a struggling farm in Joyce City in Oklahoma. The novel talks of the challenges faced by Billie Jo a 13 year old girl and her family. It tells of Billie’s struggles as she grows up in Oklahoma Dust Bowl during the depression. Billie’s father was a farmer but his crops failed to nourish because of the drought but Billie was determined to make a better life for herself. Billie was a pianist and got a chance to travel around town with other aspiring performers but her mother never gave her the support she desperately needed. She decided to escape but her escape was halted by a horrific accident which led to her mother bed ridden and later died together with the child she was carrying. The accident left Billie Jo with severe burns on her hands until she could not play the piano the way she used to. However much she tried playing the piano, she felt a lot of pain. She ran a way from home after she concluded that her father does not support her, later on she came back home and mended her relationship with her father after realizing east or west, home is the best. She meets Louise who her father had met and she started rebuilding her life. The family in Out of the Dust faces dust storms and an economic disaster resulting from the drought.
Out of the Dust story gives the reader an insight on what life was like in Joyce City where Billie lived. There was drought which caused the crops to dry up and there was nothing to eat. First of all the family was struggling and Billie had entered a talent show competition where she could have won a prize money of 3 dollars and this could help her family financially, but she never got the chance to go for it (Hesse 23). The family was struggling and Karen Hesse tries to show the reader that they did not need a million dollars but only one, two or three dollars to help save their situation. Family meant everything for Billie and she was ready to go for the competition in order to win and get her family out of poverty and the struggles they were going through. She was determined to go for the competition and had no fear about her competitors; she was going to win, just to help her family.
Billie Jo was a strong and courageous character who could be admired by the readers. She faced grave difficulties in her life and was able to overcome them slowly. She struggled to make the best of her life in spite of the dust storms, drought and the depression in her family. There were a lot of issues in her family but she still emerged the best in eighth graders with the highest score in the state’s standardized tests (Hesse 40). Billie’s family struggled to survive as her father tried to raise crops that were choked by continual dust storms but she was happy and she faced them together with her parents. She played the piano very well and earned something during performances that helped her family at times.
Billie faced a lot of challenges in her life in the dust era. She struggled to escape from home and find a better place away from the dust bowl but she later found out that her place is home. When one reads the novel, one is able to feel what Billie was truly feeling in her suffering. Many teenagers Billie’s age would feel the way she was feeling throughout the book pertaining to the issues that arose in her life and family since she is a relatable character. Billie lost her mother and her younger brother from the fire she blamed herself to have caused, but she was able to overcome the trauma. Furthermore, after the fire, Billie could not be able to play the piano the way she used to play because her hands were severely burned. However, she kept on trying to play it despite the pain she felt in her hands because she was trying to continue achieve her success because she was once a good pianist.
Karen Hasse’s novel is an attention grabber because of the way it is written. Moreover, it is very interesting and is broken up into four different seasons which are spring, summer, winter and fall. It is a good book for young adults going through tough times in their lives while growing up. According to Galda (102), young adults need inspiring and insightful books to help them counter the challenges they are going through in their lives. Many young adults reading the Out of Dust text and undergoing challenges in their lives can identify themselves with the character Billie. The story is told in first person point of view and narrated from the main character’s view who is Billie and so when one reads it, he/she is feels her pain and how she overcomes it. Billie faced a lot of challenges in her life and she did her best in trying to overcome them. At Billie’s age, many young adults will always want to escape from their lives and look for a change just as she did but they will learn after reading her story that one needs to face her challenges because running away makes things worse than they were. Out of Dust novel is a good book for young readers since they can identify themselves with the main character Billie.
Works Cited
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Press, 1997. Print.
Galda, Lee. Literature and the Child. New York: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
