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Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: Out of the Dust In the book Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, a girl named BillieJo is slowly getting over the death of her Mother. This is even harder for Billie Jo because he father won't talk about her mother's death. There is one thing that makes Billie Jo feel better and that is playing the Piano. Even though the devistating dust storms are making families flee away from Oklahoma, Billie Jo finds peace in her own heart by staying and working through her feelings.
There are a lot of great poems in the book, Out of the Dust, but the one thing that I find most interesting is "Finding a Way". This poem talkes about how two people are able to forgive one another for their wrong doings after several months and move on, even if it's a struggle to keep up with one another. I also like this poem because it gives me hope that familes can work out their differences.
The stoy is bleak but age approprite for kids in their teens mostly because younger kids woulden't get an actual feel for the story. Teens will be more aware of the diffuculties in life.
One literary devise that I have noticed that really enrichens tjis novel is the poetry is used to tie everything together and make it flow in such a way that the reader actually feels like he/she is in the story.
I enjoyed this book because it was very interesting to read about a poor family struggling through hard times such as death and teribble dust storms. In conclution, I also liked the poetry ,so reading another writer's poetry is very encouraging to me bacause it helps build on my writing skills. I definitly feel thatthisis a great book for teens to enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse was about a family with two parents and two kids who lived in a town that had dust storms all the time. There was a tragic fire in the home and the pregnant mother died while giving birth. Billie Joe, the daughter, witnessed this tragedy. My favorite poem is "Not Too Much To Ask" because this family has very little of anything and they (the mom) are still willing to give to others in need. I think this book should be read by the age group of 13 year olds and older. This group would have the ability to understand what is happening and appreciate it. One literary technique that is used in this story is imagery. The descriptions of the area make the reader feel as if it is a personal experience. The reader feels the dust in their mouths. I disliked this book because it did not hold my interest and it was boring.
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: This book is about a girl named Billie Jo who grew up during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma in the 1930s. Her life changes dramatically when her Mother and brother die during childbirth. Her relationship with her Father was not that good because they did not have much in common. Billie Jo ran away on the train to the West to get away from the Dust Bowl. She met a man in a boxcar and decided to go back home to make the best of things with her father.
My favorite Poem was "Homeward BoundĀEbecause it shows how lonely Billie Jo was when she ran away .I think it is mean to show that it is better to forgive and work things out than to run away.
The book is good for 6-9th graders because Billie Jo is about that same age. It has some gross things in it like describing the burns from the accident that would not be good for younger readers.
The literary device that the author uses is writing in poems. This makes the book seem much more personal and makes you feel close to Billie Jo.
I liked the book because it taught me about what life was like during the Dust Bowl.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of the Dust
Review: 1. The book is about a girl name Billie Jo who is living on the farm where there is a lot of dust, and she is trying dealing with the mother's and her baby brother's death. She thinks about her mother a lot so she can't really forget about the death. It started when Ma was pregant, and there wasn't anything growing because there hasn't been rain coming down. All that was coming down was the dust. After a couple days in the morning when Ma was cooking, kerosene and she thought it was just water and she cooked the fire just came out and her mother ran out outside to call Daddy. Billie Jo threw the kerosene outside while her mother ran in, and it got her. She got burned, and Billie Jo tried to help her but couldn't. Billie Jo got really badly burned on her hand and couldn't play the piano was one of her favorite thing to play the piano. She had one of the best scores in the state exam. And later on she got to play the piano on the Arsley Concert. And at the end Billie Jo's father was with a woman. And Billie Jo's tell what going on with the family and what is happening. The one thing that Billie Jo doesn't want is the woman to be near Ma's or her brother Franklin's grave.
2. My favorite poem is "Thanksgiving list" because it is about Billie Jo's wish and what she wants at the Thanksgiving party. 3. I would say I would give around my age to read the book because it tells really how she has feels about the mother and younger kids may not get the point of really what is happening in the story. 4. I kind of like it because it tells the story that there is hope for children around the world to make there life better.
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Summary: Out Of The Dust
Review: The book that I have recently read, Out Of The Dust, was about a struggling family, the Kelds, living in Amarillo, Oklahoma, during the years of 1920-1935. During this time the Kelds were bombarded with the stress of the dust bowl.
The reason that I chose the poem "Wild Boy of the Road," was because I think that the Kelds were very considerate and helpful to the boy they did not even know. Having the little that they had and still able to help somebody showed how caring the Kelds were even in a time such as the Dust Bowl.
I think this book is able to be read by our age group (9th grade) and maybe younger because even if it is fiction, it is based on our past, and all of our past is crucial in our future.
The literary device is poetry that carries on throughout the book. The whole book is written in free verse.
I think the book was very interesting because it revolved around things that actually happened through the 1920's and half of the 1930's. This book is told through the eyes of a fourteen year old in the prime of the dust bowl, even though her father's farm was pretty much destroyed in the dust bowl, she 'kept her roots planted.'
Rating:
Summary: bad
Review: This book is by far the stupidest book I've read in my life. No plot, no important characters, and worst of all, no action. The book is just about some 15-year-old whining about her father and the Dust Bowl. Stupid! Give me a break! The book is totally unrealistic and pathetic! Also, the book is inappropriate for kids younger than 12. Has a lot of mature content in it that'll give them nightmares. I don't see how this sorry excuse for a book won the Newbery Medal. It was just garbage to me. They should have picked another winner because the book lacks in Newbery quality and sense. Just plain stupid! If you're smart, stay as far away from this book as possible! Don't read it! You'll be sooo bored! Don't even read the cover! A complete waste of time and money.
Rating: 
Summary: A book thick with grit
Review: A book so evocative you'll feel grit and dust in your teeth for a week. Karen Hesse has taken the Dust Bowl and narrowed her focus to a single family living in Oklahoma in 1934. Through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Billie Jo, the reader is treated to a series of poems describing the catastrophic events that come from living in a world of dust. Each poem is a small masterpiece, slowly expanding to give the inhabitants of Billie Jo's small Okalahoma town depth and purpose. You meet families migrating west to California, bums on railroad tracks. There are abandoned babies and musicians with names like Mad Dog Craddock and the Black Mesa Boys. To read this book is to find yourself completely immersed in the Depression with Hesse's voice ringing true on every page. The form of this book is perhaps the most impressive. Pulling off a successful book with a plot made entirely in verse is incredibly difficult. Imagine trying to write convincing character development through poetry alone. Fortunately, Hesse is up to the challenge and goes above and beyond the call of duty. You're in safe hands with this adept author. Just don't feel surprised if you suddenly find yourself fighting urges to shower after every dust-thickened line.
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Summary: Out of the Dust Book Review
Review: Billie Jo is a long-legged and red haired girl. She lived an ordinary but dusty life in Oklahoma with her parents and had an incredible passion for playing the piano. Her mother was very severe. She often thought that Billie Jo's work was much more important than playing the piano. Then a disastrous accident occurred, one that sent her mother and her newborn baby brother away from them forever. Playing the piano is now out of the picture due to the injuries on her hands. This accident has created a bigger space between Billie Jo and her father. Sadly, they never had a strong father/daughter bond. They blame each other and at times, themselves. Soon, the dust storms and droughts obliterate all the crops. Billie Jo can't stand the dust bowl any longer, and decides to run away from all her dilemmas. While she runs off, she realizes that she actually loves her father and the land, and she can't leave them now. As they move on with their lives, Billie Jo finds that there is hope.
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Summary: Out of the Dust a review by Abby
Review: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to not be able to do what you love to do and in addition lose a loved one? Well, in Out of the Dust a novel by Karen Hesse, Billy Jo, the protagonist, plays the piano and she's the most outstanding pianist. She loved to play more than anything. However, she's no longer able to play the piano and she lost her Ma because of an accident that transformed her life into a horrible, red, fire rising nightmare. How can Billy Jo live her life thinking everything she always knew and loved is gone, and with no one to help her, except her father, who won't talk to her at all about anything? Stay tuned.
One day when Ma was as big as a big ripe watermelon, Pa set a big, black kettle of kerosene next to the stove and went outside to work on the mammoth, hot, dusty farm. Thinking the kettle was filled with water, Ma put the big, black kettle on the stove to make coffee for Pa, like she does every morning. Suddenly, flames burst forth like a fire breathing dragon enveloping Ma and Billy Jo in a frame of fire. Ma screamed and rushed outside to get Pa, and Billy Jo, daunted and nervous not knowing what to do, threw the heavy, big kettle out the door just as Ma came back in. Ma was now a wall of flames on the ground. Why did such a thing happen to her Ma, and what will become of her and Billy Jo? Read Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse to learn more.
The accident wasn't the only thing that began Billy Jo's terrifying, dark nightmare. In the prairie back in 1934, huge dust storms disturbed Pa's life in growing his precious and valuable wheat. Everywhere he looked there was dust. One day there was a horrible, huge dust storm that enveloped the whole house like a huge hungry whale. Pa awoke to the roof rattling above the rackety, old house and marched outside with no word of why. Pa didn't come back in for hours on end. What will happen to Pa, will he come back? What harm will come to Pa? Billy Jo just wishes that she could run away from the dust forever like everyone else, away from the sorrows, dust, tears, and painful memories. What will happen?
Her days seem forever, a week an eternity, and a year never ending. The annoying, repetitive dust storms are just in the way of everyone's farming and will never end. This is her diary of one year in her amazing life, a great pianist, not being able to play because of her hands. What? Why? If only. These are the thoughts of a girl called Billy Jo. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse is a fabulous, mood changing, and outstanding book that I would encourage you to read.
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Summary: All about Billie-Jo
Review: I would give this book four stars because although I like to listen about Billie-Jo's life style and find out about the problems she had to solve, it was hard to read. It was hard because it was written like a poem. there were many commas and not a lot of periods to stop at and take a breath. Billie-Jo lived with her mother and father. Billie-Jo's mother was pregnant with a baby boy. One day their house caught on fire. Billie -Jo's mother got burned very badly. Billie -Jo`s hands were burned too. Billie-Jo's mother died giving birth to her brother and her life change. Billie-Jo couldn't play her piano for a while because of her burned hands. Billie-jo's father wasn't the easiest guy to live with because of his grief. Billie-Jo needs to go on with her life but can she? Billie-Jo has a chance to live with her aunt but she decides to live with her with her dad. I think someone that likes to read about peoples lives and problems will in enjoy this joy this book.
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