Rating: 
Summary: Don't read out of the dust
Review: I don't like out of dust it is very stupid. Alot of the poems don't make sense. The best part of Out of the Dust was THE ENDING. The only reason I am writing this is to warn u that this book sucks , its boring , and nobody likes it. This book made no sense and u wouldnt like it unless u like boring and dull books.
Rating:
Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: I have read this book and I am leaning to one feeling about the book. I give this book a one. It deserves a one because it the same thing over and over again. You know waht is going to happen next. Dust storm after dust storm came and it bored me dearly. I feel that the author went on about the same thing and made a mountain out of a molehill about dust storms and stuff like that. The one thing I did like about it was some of the poems were good and interesting. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, but if you wanted to try it I would say it's for teens and young adults. This book wasn't one of the best i have ever read in the past.
Rating: 
Summary: not what i thought
Review: this book was a boring book. the cover was even boring. it is all about a family that started with 3 people but ended up with 2 because billiejo's mother had a baby but died right after and the baby died too. ths book is sad and all but it keeps on repeating the same thing over and over again. i have never read a book that is all poems that tell a story that reapeats everything at least twice. there is not much to say about this book because it wasn't all that exciting. all i can say is that i wouldn't tell one of my friends about this boring book. But im not the one that is stoping you from reading this book because everyone has a different opinion about everything so you could maybe try it if you like and see what you think of it and maybe you can write a review of your own.
Rating:
Summary: the not so good review
Review: i didn't like the book because the book was just a long poem. And i don't like poems and it was just a never ending poem. And i don't really like the name allthough theire was a funny part and it wasn't fast and it wasn't active.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Story
Review: There are many poems in the novel Out of the Dust that vary in many ways, such as length, disposition, and events. Some of my favorite poems in the novel are "The Piano Player", or "Kilauea", but my preferred poem is definitely "The Accident", for the reason that it is the climax of the story, though not for good. This took place in "Summer 1934", and changed everyone's lives, including the reader. This was the most tragic of all, out of all the horrible and tragic events that happened to the abysmal family. It depressed the lives of Billie Joe, and was quite a shock. She first lost her mother, and then learned that she was not going to have a little brother. It also meant that she was going to live with her father, which was not quite favorable in her point of view. This was a shock to her, and could've lived a much happier life without it. In addition, her self-esteem sharply decreased, because she accidentally threw the kerosene lamp at her, which contributed to her mother's death. She felt like it was her who killed her mother. This was the biggest change in her depressing life.
I believe that this novel would be fitting for readers aged eleven and up. I have this theory based on several facts. First of all, the important facts "Jump" out at the reader. Instead of the novel saying "My mother faced a fierce hardship today and feels that her live will cease to exist", it says "And she was suddenly a column of fire" (Hesse, 61) Besides the facts appealing to the reader, Out of the Dust is a "quick read", it does not take long to read. It is a short book that is filled with wonderful poems that each take up half of the page, at most. It does not contain much violence, therefore could be suitable for any reader aged eleven or up, because anybody younger would be mentally affected by this, and could perhaps influence their developing brain. Based on these three facts, I conclude that Out of the Dust is a novel that all readers of all ages will appreciate.
My favorite poetic device that I enjoyed reading in this novel is definitely the large amount of figurative language. Figurative language was very ubiquitous in the novel, anywhere you look, and it will appear. For example, in "Dust Storm", "Their voices rose like ghosts on the howling wind" (Hesse, 143). In "Migrants", there is another case of figurative language usage. "And sparse as the hair on a dog's belly" (Hesse, 160). Additionally, in "Let Down", there is a metaphor. "I think we're both turning to dust" (Hesse, 175). The way that these examples of figurative language were found was by opening the book to a random page, and looking for either a simile or metaphor. There was at least one on every page. Figurative language is a large piece of the novel, and the novel would shatter like a baseball hitting a glass window, without it.
I enjoyed this book more than I normally enjoy most. It is a wonderful book that is full of the elements that a book needs in order to satisfy the reader's "Hunger". This is a great book for many more reasons than the ones stated above, and definitely deserved the Newberry Medal.
Rating: 
Summary: Ricahrds thoughs
Review: Out Of The Dust, By Karen Hesse Do you enjoy books that can help you on your history? Well, if you do, I know it's just the book because it's full of things that probably could help you. The book is a very sad book with lots of lessons about life. I thought that the book was okay because I could see the simplicity in which I could read it. I liked the way the story was written for the reason that blank poetry is really easy to understand and can be read quickly. I think that the book could have been better in the method of it being longer. Other ways that the book could be improved would be if the book had included a little more excitement. Overall I thought that the book was a very good one.
My favorite poem was the poem 'Devoured', {Hesse, 68,69}. This poem captivated my attention simply because I'm really a sensitive person and the poem was poignant. I could almost see myself in this situation because of the seriousness of the poem. I think that this book is for all ages 12 through adult. I perceive this for the reasons that it is an emotional story that people these ages would enjoy. These are the reasons that I enjoyed this book and believe other people will.
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Summary: Out of the Dust Review
Review: Bryce Logan
Period 3
1/9/01 Out of the Dust is a novel about a country girl and her family in the Dust Bowl. Billie-Joe (the girl) has a normal life for what it seems, but she doesn't know that in the near future, things are about to get worse. After she accidentally pours flaming kerosene on her mother, things just seems to rapidly go downhill. Her father goes out, and drinks up all the emergency money, her mother dies giving birth to the baby she was pregnant with, and just a few hours after he was born, the baby dies. Her father stops talking to her, and barely notices that she is there. Billie-Joe decides to run away, but on the train she catches, she meets a man. Can this man help her change her decision to run away? Read the enticing novel Out of the Dust to find out. The novel was an interesting novel to read, but it was very lengthy. The poem lengths are mostly short, but here and there is a longer one. In each poem there is an event that is happening, and each one is different to the other. Without the conflicts happening, I don't think that the book would be very appealing to readers." My father just sits ther, across from me at the table. He doesn't speak, or look. He keeps his eyes down, and tries not to look at my hands. This book was very enjoyable to read, and I hope that every young reader has a chance to read it also.
Rating:
Summary: Not a book to read if you like excting books.
Review: Karen Hesse's novel Out of the Dust is a story of a girl living through the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl. She suffers from loss, burns and dust. Her life is controlled by dust. She has many problems in her life, including a silent father. The author uses many similies in this book, but not enough descriptions of the characters or setting.
The reason that I only gave this book three stars was the way that it was written. It is written in blank verse, which is very confusing and hard to read. It seemed like the author was trying to be different to impress her publisher or the readers, but it really is hard to read. Not that the words are difficult. In fact, it's very simple language, but because of the way that it was written, you can't tell how the author wanted you to read it. For example,
"While the dust blew
Down our road,
Across our fields,
Up in Canada
A lady named Elzire Dionne
Gave birth to five baby girls
All at once." (Hesse, 57) You can tell that there is no upper-level vocabulary in this book. However, this book deals with loss, death, adversity and the power of forgiving. These themes are not meant for little kids, so I would recommend it for twelve-year-olds and up.
I did not enjoy this book. It was boring at the beginning and did not make me want to read on. The language did not challenge me, and I felt like I was reading something that a second grader wrote (except for the fact that it was about death and the Great Depression). I did not enjoy this book and I felt like I was forced to read it. If you like poetry that has no rhyme or reason to it, then I would recommend this book to you. Although I warn you, you may get bored and not read the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of the Dust review by Hiromi T.
Review: This book, Out of the Dust, is a very emotional book with many, many types of feelings. The book is a poem type diary, of a girl in the early 1930's, Billie Jo, who struggles through life. Billie Jo has a great talent in playing "fierce" piano, and has a nice flowing life until all of a sudden, everything crashes down upon her. Billie Jo, a girl who lives in a shack in the Panhandle, experiences life without rain and happiness.. and most of all without her mother. Billie Jo, in the beginning of the story, loses her mother in "the accident". She blames her father as the dust storm gets worse around the area. Her love towards her only other family member--her father, obscures into the dust storm. "I don't know my father anymore. He sits across from me, he looks like my father, he chews his food like my father, he brushes his dusty hair back like my father, but he is a stranger. I am awkward with I'm, and irritated, and I want to be alone but I am terrified of being alone. we are both changing, we are shifting to fill in the empty spaces left my Ma. I keep my raw and stinging hands behind my back when he comes near because he stares when he sees them." (Hesse, 76)
Billie Jo, throughout the story, learns to love, forgive and deal with adversity. Even though she lives with the dust, and sleeps with the dust, she tears her way through the storm and the terrible period of her life. She was much stronger in feelings and forgiveness at the end than she was in the beginning of the story. She did run away, leaving the dust,... out of the dust, and left her father in the dust. But with her heart and courage, she headed for home, and pounced into her father's arms at the train station.
"As we walk together, side by side, in the swell of dust, I am forgiving him, step by step, for the pail of kerosene. As we walk together, side by side, in the sole-deep dust, I am forgiving myself, for all the rest." (Hesse, 206)
When I first started reading this book, to tell you the truth, I hated it. It was terrible. I read till page 55 or so, and I still didn't understand the point of the story. It wasn't clear to me, what the story was about. I didn't even understand where or how this "girl" was living. But when I said, "Ok, I'm going to read it over," I understood it all. In fact, I couldn't put the book down until I was done. It became one of my favorite books, instead of one of my least favorite. It is a great book, and trust me, you'll end up using at least a couple of tissues. You'll have a tingling feeling that will reach inside you and pull you into her world. And when reading it, read it when you have time, don't rush, and feel each word in the poem, and understand her feelings. Read it with an open heart and feeling towards her. This was a heart-shocking and warming book, I've never read anything like it.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better!
Review: Out of the Dust is well written for people who like poetry. Some people cannot understand or get into poetry. I do not like poetry and the story line was boring. If the novel was written in paragraph form then many more students and others would enjoy it. It seems that the author just pressed enter whenever she wanted to without thinking. The storyline of the book is inspiring to people who think they are lost in life, but pointless to people who know who they are. However, the characters were well explained. Billie Jo is the perfect example of a little girl who is lost in a sea of death, birth, and dust. Every family during the "Dust Bowl" had trouble, but Billie Jo and her family had more than that. Billie Jo was a young girl who had to grow up without a mother, a father who was lost, and a farm that was dead.
My favorite poem in the book is called "Met." It is when Billie Jo comes back from running away and she and her father have an in-depth conversation to make up for the past. This poem shows that Billie Jo can forgive someone even though he (father) hurt her badly. 'As we walk together, side by side, in the sole-deep dust, I am forgiving myself for all the rest." (Hesse, 206) This shows that Billie can forgive herself for everything and anything that has gone wrong in the past. "I can't be my own mother...and I can't be my own father..." (Hesse, 205) Here Billie Jo is expressing her need for love and saying that she can't take care of herself. Lastly, this is my favorite poem because it expresses so many of Billy Jo's feelings.
Even though the book had an okay story line it was incredibly boring and always got off track. Karen Hesse never stayed on subject and seemed to include random poems to make it longer. If you took out half the poems in this book that did not make sense a second grader could read it. A second grader could read it because it does not use a very wide variety of vocabulary and it would be really short. Karen Hesse did use a few similies, but they were not interesting because you could not pay attention to the book in the first place. One of the similies that someone could enjoy would have to be, "her anger, simmering over like a pot in an empty kitchen." Students could understand this one because the poem it is in relates to the story line. She does not use many metaphors, alliteration, or personification.
I would recommend this book to any age group that understands and likes random poetry. The poetry would be nice if it was compiled in a real sequence. Students around sixth grade and up would understand and appreciate this book. Kids a little younger might not understand the randomness of the book.
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