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

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Summary: Out of the dust
Review: The book "Out of the Dust" is a book about the Dust Bowl. The main character of the book is Billie Jo, a 12-year-old girl with great ambition for the piano. She faces hard times when her Oklahoma household was deprived of all their family's hard-earned wheat. This book is unique partly because it's all written in poetry form. Some of these poems are unclear, because some are only four words long. Even though, the book shows a lot of heart and expresses the feelings of people back in the hard times.

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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: Out of the Dust is a very enlightening book. I really felt her pain as she lost her mother to the fire. I really think the author did well on explaining how she felt in different situations. My favorite poem was "The Empty Spaces." Where it talks about her and her father gradually growing apart. I think this book is a little hard ot understand for younger kids since it is all poems. I think that Billie Jo felt secluded from her life. It was terrible how she was ripped from the family since her mom died. I felt like she wasn't in the family anymore. Her father was like a stranger he didn't talk to her or make her laugh like she used to. I recommend this book for childern 12-14

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Summary: DEFINITELY The Best Book
Review: I absolutely hate to read, but then my teacher assigned me to read this book. I wasn't so sure if I would like it till I started it. Once I did I realized that this was a GREAT book. It lets you be aware of how life was during the dust bowl. It was well written and the way the font was made you want to keep reading because it was fun. Some of what happened was devastating and I don't think that I could handle it but the the young girl was brave. I would recommend this book to ANYBODY!! Out of the Dust is awesome...Go read it!!

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Summary: This book stinks!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book was the dumbest book I have ever read. What girl could be so stupid that she would throw kerosene on ones own mother. I suggest you read any other book besides this one.

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Summary: bite the dust
Review: Out of the dust was a very good fiction book. Even though it was fiction it told the true story behind the oklahoma dust ball. This book is AWESOME!!!

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Summary: Dust Licker
Review: Do you have your own Journal or Diary at home? If so than you know how interesting they can get! This book is made up of entries that a young girl has written in her diary during the Dust Bowl time period. Tis book is AWESOME!!! Written by: Donna Howell

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Summary: Out Of The Dust
Review: This book was about the difficult and harsh times that came as a result from the dust storms and droughts. This weather was based around Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. It lasted for a total of eight years and killed thousands of people. What was a prosperous land for wheat was destroyed in days. Many people began heading west, but not everyone. A young girl named Billie Jo and her family decided to remain in Oklahoma and try to survive. In my opinion, I disliked how Karen Hesse used poem form instead of the full column. I rated this book a three because i think thet it could have been better written then what it was.

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Summary: The Story of the Dust Bowl
Review: Out of the Dust was a pretty good book. It was based on a period of time where there was a drought that lasted 8-10 years.Somethings that were good about the book were the metaphors. For example when Miss Freeland said "Our future is blowing away with the dust." What she meens by that is she thinks that they have no future. One of the weaker points of the book were it wasn't very exciting and it was hard to get into. I would reccomend this book for people around the age of fourteen because it was fairly easy to read and to understand.

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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: I liked this book. The way the author wrote this book was great. I enjoyed reading it like a poem. If was very educational. I learned alot about the Dust Bowl. I gave it 4 stars because it was very good. It was interesting becasue you learned how to live durning the Dust Bowl. I didn't like it when the author stated that there was "Dust in the food". There was dust in all the food and in the drink. They turned over the plates so that the dust wouldn't get on the plates. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much.

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Summary: Out Of The Dust?
Review: This book is very well writen and easy to read for a younger audince too. I liked how the book is in a poem form so the pages arnt that long. This book describes the dust storm very well from a person prospective even though this was a fictonial character. The author did alot of research on this book to be soo descriptive. I gave it the four stars because it got a little boring. So in conclusin i would recomend this book to alot of people because it is very interesting.