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jenmangler's review against another edition
4.0
"Hard times are about losing spirit, and hope, and what happens when dreams dry up." This book makes it very easy to understand how people suffering through the Dust Bowl could lose hope. It's just so awful and overwhelming. Yet Billie Jo manages to hold onto hers, and things do get better for her. I can't imagine having that kind of strength.
jgurniak's review
4.0
Read it in one sitting. This is a great quick read that is great for adults who want to just breeze through a novel, and also great for introducing younger readers to history.
carlisajc's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. I've learned recently that I really enjoy free verse novels. Something about them brings so much power in so little words. Anyways, this book is about a girl named Billie Jo, who is living with her family in the Dust Bowl. If you don't know what the Dust Bowl is, it was in the Oklahoma and Texas area in the 1930s, where the ground dried up and enormous dust storms basically overtook everything. It was a time of dead crops, little water or money, and small hopes for the future. But it's the story of how Billie Jo rises up "out of the dust" to become who she really is.
I just enjoyed this novel. It kind of brought me back to my Grapes of Wrath days from high school, which made me cringe at my memories of that monster book. But this one was different. It was fast and beautifully-written. Let me show you an example:
"It started out as snow,
oh,
big flakes
floating
softly,
catching on my sweater,
lacy on the edges of my sleeves.
...
Until at last
it slipped into rain,
light as mist.
It as the kindest
kind of rain
that fell.
Soft and then a little heavier,
helping along
what had already fallen
into the
hard-pan
earth
until it
rained,
steady as a good friend
who walks beside you,
not getting in your way,
staying with you through a hard time.
And because the ran came
so patient and slow at first,
and built up strength as the earth
remembered how to yielf,
instead of washing off,
the water slid in,
into the dying ground
and softened its stubborn pride,
and eased it back toward life.
And then,
just when we thought it would end,
after three such gentle days,
the rain
came
slamming down,
tons of it,
soaking into the ready earth
to the primed and greedy earth,
and soaking deep."
Look at that. As I read, I could feel the changes in the rain. The gentleness at first that slowly became steadier and then harder, harder, harder. You can feel it in the language. Isn't that cool?
This book is kind of sad, but it's the truth of the time. This period was devastating to people. But despite that devastation, despite the dust that seeped through cracks and covered everything around you, this book also contains hope. And that's what makes it special.
I just enjoyed this novel. It kind of brought me back to my Grapes of Wrath days from high school, which made me cringe at my memories of that monster book. But this one was different. It was fast and beautifully-written. Let me show you an example:
"It started out as snow,
oh,
big flakes
floating
softly,
catching on my sweater,
lacy on the edges of my sleeves.
...
Until at last
it slipped into rain,
light as mist.
It as the kindest
kind of rain
that fell.
Soft and then a little heavier,
helping along
what had already fallen
into the
hard-pan
earth
until it
rained,
steady as a good friend
who walks beside you,
not getting in your way,
staying with you through a hard time.
And because the ran came
so patient and slow at first,
and built up strength as the earth
remembered how to yielf,
instead of washing off,
the water slid in,
into the dying ground
and softened its stubborn pride,
and eased it back toward life.
And then,
just when we thought it would end,
after three such gentle days,
the rain
came
slamming down,
tons of it,
soaking into the ready earth
to the primed and greedy earth,
and soaking deep."
Look at that. As I read, I could feel the changes in the rain. The gentleness at first that slowly became steadier and then harder, harder, harder. You can feel it in the language. Isn't that cool?
This book is kind of sad, but it's the truth of the time. This period was devastating to people. But despite that devastation, despite the dust that seeped through cracks and covered everything around you, this book also contains hope. And that's what makes it special.
ewitsell's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
rattledragons's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
thesimplereader's review against another edition
4.0
I had to read this book for school and though I cannot even remember the name of the class, I can remember that I loved this book. It changed the way I see historical literature.
ajay913's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
mehsi's review against another edition
1.0
I needed a book for my challenge on my group. And this one turned out to be the one, and what a crap book it was. This mostly is due the way this book is written. Since people are offended when I get it wrong, I will just call it some form of poetry and leave it at that.
I don't mind poetry that much, but this kind just feels weird. Like someone wrote a complete book, with working sentences and then threw the book in the blender and mixer and continued from there. And yes, I have said so in every review about this kind of poetry. :) I just have to mention it in each review, as you never know if someone read other reviews.
I didn't particularly care about the main character, she seemed weak and strange. And I got a bit tired of her stuff about her hands. Seriously, just be FUCKING honest with people. Just tell them you can't play, that you want to, but that your hands are damaged beyond repair (or at least they make it seem like it is). Urgh. It was just pathetic.
Then we have the constant dust storm stuff. It was interesting at first, but later I was wondering why people were putting themselves through this kind of stuff. Why they stayed, why they kept trying, why they didn't just leave and find something better. Some place better to live. And yes, this costs money and all that, but I would save up money and then leave. There is nothing there but dust.
The book ends pretty boring, I had expected some great escape, something big, but instead things just continue as they always do. Nothing conclusive, nothing exciting. Bleh.
The book is marketed for kids, but I am not sure if they would like this. I wouldn't recommend it to a kid, not at all.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I don't mind poetry that much, but this kind just feels weird. Like someone wrote a complete book, with working sentences and then threw the book in the blender and mixer and continued from there. And yes, I have said so in every review about this kind of poetry. :) I just have to mention it in each review, as you never know if someone read other reviews.
I didn't particularly care about the main character, she seemed weak and strange. And I got a bit tired of her stuff about her hands. Seriously, just be FUCKING honest with people. Just tell them you can't play, that you want to, but that your hands are damaged beyond repair (or at least they make it seem like it is). Urgh. It was just pathetic.
Then we have the constant dust storm stuff. It was interesting at first, but later I was wondering why people were putting themselves through this kind of stuff. Why they stayed, why they kept trying, why they didn't just leave and find something better. Some place better to live. And yes, this costs money and all that, but I would save up money and then leave. There is nothing there but dust.
The book ends pretty boring, I had expected some great escape, something big, but instead things just continue as they always do. Nothing conclusive, nothing exciting. Bleh.
The book is marketed for kids, but I am not sure if they would like this. I wouldn't recommend it to a kid, not at all.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
vtsarahd's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this historical fiction novel written in free verse. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse will tug at your heartstrings and make you fervently hope for the rain Billie Jo and her family need for survival on their Oklahoma farm. The novel chronicles the daily life of Billie Jo on her family's farm over a few years. She weathers the loss of her mother and infant brother after a terrible accident and she and her father learn to live together and make peace with each other. In Karen Hesse's words from her Newbery acceptance speech, it is a novel about forgiveness - not just between people, but also between people and their circumstances here on earth. This is a novel that made me care and think deeply about life during the Dust Bowl in the United States, and the challenging daily circumstances so many people had to face. It is definitely worth reading and savoring.