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burgundywhine 's review for:
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
Billie Jo lives during the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression with her parents who struggle to survive on their farm; tragedy strikes early in the book when the 14 year old accidentally throws kerosene (she was trying to get it out of the house when it caught on fire) onto her pregnant mother, resulting in her mother and baby brother's deaths. Told in free verse and weaving in other characters from her town, her father's drinking problems, Billie Jo's piano playing, and her discovering who she is (part of her mom and part of her dad). Following two years in her life, this book shows the harsh reality of living during the Dust Bowl era -- even though the horrific accident is far from what one might consider a normal occurrence (but don't all books need some drama?).
Because of the graphic nature of the accident and the main character's continued struggle to deal with it, I would use this book with middle or high school students. It could definitely be used in several ways -- either as a book used with other novels told in verse (like with The Poet X or Long Way Down) or it could be used in a social studies class with a unit about the 1930s. It could even be used in excerpts to supplement units in both history and English courses. For example, there is a poem early on that is about Billie Jo setting the table with all the plates and cups upside down, and it is not until her family sits to eat and flips them back over that you come to realize it was to keep the dust out. Finally, this could simply be used as an example of how free verse can be broken up and laid out on the page in different ways. On some pages, Hesse's enjambment results in lines all starting on the left alignment while other pages have phrases scattered across the page: left, middle, right.
Because of the graphic nature of the accident and the main character's continued struggle to deal with it, I would use this book with middle or high school students. It could definitely be used in several ways -- either as a book used with other novels told in verse (like with The Poet X or Long Way Down) or it could be used in a social studies class with a unit about the 1930s. It could even be used in excerpts to supplement units in both history and English courses. For example, there is a poem early on that is about Billie Jo setting the table with all the plates and cups upside down, and it is not until her family sits to eat and flips them back over that you come to realize it was to keep the dust out. Finally, this could simply be used as an example of how free verse can be broken up and laid out on the page in different ways. On some pages, Hesse's enjambment results in lines all starting on the left alignment while other pages have phrases scattered across the page: left, middle, right.