Literature Guide: Out of the Dust (Grades 4-8)

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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: 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. That stanza is my favorite poem of the book. It shows how the torn relationship of Billie Jo and her father is slowly healing. And how her relationship with "herself" is healing also. Over all I think Out of the Dust is an outstanding book. The poems are excellent at times. However, Sometimes the poems interfere with the flow of the book. That is why I only gave Out of the Dust 4 out of 5 stars. The book is chiefly the story of two years during the Dust Bowl, shown through the eyes of Billie Jo, a young girl. It offers much insight on what it must it have been like to live through that terrible time. It is deeply depressing, but at times light hearted and almost fun. I liked this book because it makes it easy to picture such a horrific time period in your head.

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Summary: Out of The Dust
Review: A 12 year old girl is living in the Dust Bowl. Her name is Billie Jo Kelby. This is a character from Out of The Dust. A Newbery Medal Award book. This book is all about the Dust Bowl during the great depression. The dust Blown so hard some times that the wheat would blow right out of the ground. Everything was covered in dust. The ground looked like a sea of dust with all the ripples.The wheat once was over our heads one person said before, but now it is down by our ankles. Billie Jo was the best piano player in her town before the Accient. The Accient killed her mother and Killed her ambistiton to play piano.

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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: The book Out of the Dust by Karen Hessee is about a twelve year old girl named Billie Jo, who is living during the Dustbowl. The book tells about the hard times Billie Jo and her family members go through in the Dustbowl. I would rate the book as an eight out of ten because it was very interesting and I learned many things about life during the Dustbowl from reading it.

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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. The reasone I enjoyed reading this book is because Karen Hesse gave a good description on the dust storm and it made me feel like I was there as Bille Jo was going through all the struggles that she went through. For example, her hands had many blisters on them and when ma died and here brother died I felt sad like Bille Jo. My favorite poem is the "Burns". The reason I like it is because it describes how she is feeling. An example of this is first I felt no pain, only heat, and I thought I might be swallowed by the heat, like "Hansel and Gretel" nothing would be left of me . Even though I thought this pome was sad , I really liked how it was told. These are the reasons I liked to read "Out of the Dust"

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Summary: Out Of The Dust
Review: Billie Joe is a girl that is named after a boy because her dad wanted a boy. It tells want kind of things that they did.The story tells how Billie joe has to deal with the death of her mother.Shows also shows what she did all day while the dust as was blowing.Tells the story of how the dust started and why it started.The time it went from and the time that it ended.

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Summary: Out Of the Dust Review
Review: "We watched as the storm swallowed in the light. The sky turned from blue to black, night descended in an instant and the dust was on us. The wind screamed. The blowing dirt ran so thick I couldn't see the brim of my hat as we plunged from the truck, fleeing. The dust swarmed like it had never swarmed before". This part of the poem Blankets of Black is one of my favorite parts of the book! This stanza is an excellent description of what it would really be like to be caught in a dust storm. I have never been that interested in reading, but this book kept me reading. It was hard for me to put the book down. I love the fantastic details that that the author put in this book. It gives you vivid pictures in your imagination about what it would be like to live during the Dust Bowl.

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Summary: Out Of The Dust
Review: This novel describes the conditions of the dust storms and droughts centered in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado during the Great Depression. Billie Jo, a young fourteen year old girl and her family are struggle to make ends meet. As the book carries on, Billie Jo feels though she is guilty for the death of her mother and the burns on her hands. Wondering what life would be like without the dust Billie Jo heads west to start a new life. I loved this novel as for it was displayed as a diary written as poems. I would recomend this book to anyone willing to discover the problems and struggles of families during the dust storm.

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Summary: out of the dust
Review: I thought that the book Out of the Dust was a very good book. I learned alot about the dust bowl and how Bille Jo and her family went through alot of pain and suffering with all of the problems. Some of their problems were having no food for a while, their mother was in the middle of having a baby and the babay died a short while after the mother in birth. There was a sickness called dust pneumonia and that was a very bad sickness that could lead to death of just get very ill, and sick. I rate this book a four because I learned alot about this time in the 1920's and I know understand how they all felt. I would recommend this book for someone who likes to read books that help you to see what a character is going through.

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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: I think this book is really good. I feel Karen Hesse did a great job describing the dust storms. I thought it was really sad when the mother and her child died. I also felt bad for Billie Jo. She had alot going on in her life. She had burnt hands, She wanted to play piano, and she was being blamed for her mothers death. Overall it was a great book.

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Summary: Out of The Dust
Review: I thought that the greatest part about this book was the way it was written. Ms. Hess did a very good job in the way she put the words on the page. The word and phrases dance across the page as though she is playing the piano. The author also makes you feel as though you are standing side by side with Billie Jo, pinning damp clothes to the window panes to prevent dust from getting inside. Hess also uses very descriptive similes and metaphors that force a mental image into your head. I like the way this book is interesting yet the facts, dates and events are accurate. I think I learned alot from this book. Before I read it, I knew nothing about th Dust Bowl. Through the descriptions in this book, I feel as though I was there. This novel as written as though it was Billie Jo's diary. On the other hand, if you don't particularly like poetry, this book is not for you. I also think that if I wasn't the same age as Billie Jo, I might have a completely different perspective. Overall, I think this book should receive 3 stars because I personally don't like poetry and this typ of book is not my favorite. However, this book is VERY well written and is very informational. Even though I don't like this genre, the author made this book extremely enjoyable.