Rating: 
Summary: Into The Dust
Review: I first read this book in a Childrens Literature Course at Arizona State University. From the beginning of the book I was drawn into the story. The style of the writing is what drew me in (almost like a collection of poetry). To take journey into Billie Jo's life and witness her "real life" experiences is what makes this book so excellent. Her life events could happen to anyone. This book is so good that I plan on using it as a read aloud/literature study book with my fourth grade students during the spring semester.
Rating: 
Summary: sad
Review: This is one of those books that you really have to love and hate at the same time. I love this book because it was so interesting but I disliked this book because it was so sad. Really sad. It's one of those books you wouldn't want to read if you were already having a bad day. Anyways I think that since it is such a good story you should probably read it anyways, but be prepared to be a little depressed in some parts.
Rating:
Summary: Hooked on this Book
Review: This book is wonderful! Everything in this book keeps you hooked and you want to read more. It is about a girl named Billie-Joe and she goes through hard times but always keeps on going in her life. She lives in Oklahoma and wants to leave, but something keeps her from not going. Read this book, and you will find out that wherever you are right now, you are pretty lucky. As with Billie-Joe, things can't get worse even though she is in worst conditions! Read this and find out what Billie-Joe has been through!
Rating:
Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: This book is different from all the others. It is a story in a poem. It is about a girl named Billie Jo and she lives on a farm with her Ma and Pa in Oklahoma in 1934. There have been a lot of dust storms and very little to no rain; so Billy Jo and her family don't have much money and don't get many proper meals. Billie Jo loves to play the piano in concerts to earn some money for her hungry family. Then there is an accident that puts Billie Jo and her mother on the line. Will she ever be able to play piano again? Read this book to see what will happen and if Billie Jo and her family can get out of the dust alive!
Rating:
Summary: A terrific book for anyone!
Review: This book, Out of the Dust, was amazing. It was creative, imaginative and focused on so many aspects. The story of Billie Jo was well written and interesting. While reading it, you feel as if you are being pulled into this life of this fourteen year old girl. It's astounding how this author, Karen Hesse, could take a true factor in American history and weave it all together to form a character with real feelings and hardships. This book was also written very creatively. The way that the author wrote the story in the form of poems was not only different, but it made me think if Billie Jo had been colloecting those poems in a little journal, or if that was simply the was that Karen Hesse decided to write it. I would recomend this book of determination, emotion and truth to any age group. Out of the Dust was truly a terrific story.
Rating:
Summary: BOOK REVIEW
Review: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse introduces young adults to a time in history that is often overshadowed by policis and economic failure: The Great Depression. Very few books, especially in the catagory of young adults, deals directly with the emotions, fears, and tragedies of a young girl living in Oklahoma during the era of the Dust Bowl. Hesse's character, Billie Jo, represents one child's life and although her tragedies and heartbereak are unique, she grants children a place in history. The poetic style, on the other hand, enables young adult readers to read and interpet each experience independently or to reflect upon them as a whole. While Billie Jo allows the reader to experience a part of history through the eyes of a child, Hesse's writing ability allows us to experience the dust bowl. Through her words we can invision the dust as its rolls across the land or feel the physical and emotion pain of a young girl whose life has been forever changed by death. As a student of history and english, I found the book, Out of the Dust, to be educational as well as enjoyable and stongly recommend it for students at the levels of young adults and beyond. I would hesitate introducing it to a younger audience because of the detail surrounding the mother's death and Billie Jo's injuries.
Rating:
Summary: A very powerful read
Review: A book written in free verse - a bit contrived don't you think? That is a myth that was dispelled for me upon completion of the very first poem. Here is a book with enormous power, where the language conveys not only the essential elements of a compelling story, but also the rhythm of the landscape and the emotions of 13 year old girl at the heart of the story. The verse allowed the reader to appreciate the beauty and power of the language used, it encouraged you to slow down, to pause in the middle of a sentence to appreciate the beauty of the language and the images it conveyed. It also enabled constant change of pace, one minute active and quick, the next quiet and contemplative. But above all, I am grateful to this book for opening up a chapter of history, of which, as a non-American, I was unaware. The hardships of the "dust bowl" were vividly brought to life and explained in a way that I could appreciate not only the tragedy but the lesson that sounds throughout the book about working with, rather than against the land, and of the dangers of over-exploitation. I am currently reading the "Grapes of Wrath", which I am also really enjoying. However I credit "Out of the Dust" for the effect the latter novel is having on me, for it is "Out of the Dust" which gave me the background to appreciate what life must have been like in the Dust Bowl.
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of book.
Review: This book is different from all the others. It is a story in a poem. The whole book is a poem. It is about a girl named Billie Jo and she lives on a farm with her Ma and Pa in Oklahoma in 1934. There have beena lot of dust storms and very little to no rain; so Billie Jo and her family don't have very much money and don't get many proper meals. Billie Jo loves to play the piano in concerts to earn money for her hungry family. Then there is an accident that puts Billie Jo's hand and her mother on the line;she can't play piano anymore. Read this book to see what will happen and if Billie Jo and her family can get out of the dust!
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly sad
Review: This is perhaps one of the most heartwrenching books I have read, conveyed especially well by the free verse. The ending is excellent, as Hesse manages to craft ways in which Billie Jo is able to move on and reconstruct her life and relationships.But I can't even look at the cover without getting teary! The part about the family that appeared in the classroom, Billie Jo getting her little brother's clothes for their baby, and then the way she wanted to chase after them when they left! I've found that most of the Newberry award winners tend to be very sad or troubling. My mother wanted to buy this book for my nine-year-old cousin, based on the fact that it had won the medal. I advised her to wait a few years. At 28, I had a hard time with the subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: Keeping her spirit
Review: "Out of the Dust," written as a series of spare free-verse poems from the viewpoint of a Texas teenager during the 1930s, won the Newbery Award for 1998. My own reading of the book convinced me that the award was well-deserved. Billie Jo's poems span a period of years filled with difficult experiences: poverty, unemployment, her mother's death in an accident, her own maiming in the same accident, her trouble communicating with her father. Her life is certainly not easy, her path almost never smooth. Yet, the poems radiate such a hope, even a joy at times, that the book never becomes depressing. I think some of the images of this book will stick with me for a long time -- the family chewing their dust-laden milk, her mother's tent of pain, her father's smile at the dance, Billie Jo's first concert after recovering from her burns. Billie Jo is a survivor whose story is both thought-provoking and uplifting.
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