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Summary: A powerful and touching book
Review: The character and tale of Billy Jo has remained in my mind as a good story does. I found the poetic style different and captivating in its ability to create the sparse setting of the Oaklahoma dustbowl in the 1920's. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages.
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Summary: A must read..must have...book.
Review: Karen Hesse..thank you for introducing me to Billie Jo.For opening my eyes to another time..another place. ..For making me feel through your verse...for transporting me to another place,one i've never been to..but needed to visit. I am planning a book fair for my sons school..I plan to make sure there are plenty of copies available. Billie Jo..you have touched my heart..shown me courage and how to perservere.
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Summary: A realistic look at a troubled girl's life.
Review: A Fantastic novel that makes you feel sorry and also celebrate with the characters.
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Summary: a moving novel, well written and engagingly informative
Review: As an adult and mother, I have read several Newberry Award winners and other Hesse books and this is a stunning example of how great children's literature can be. I am awed by Hesse's literary style and the information conveyed through the series of poems . I recommend this book whole heartedledly and will encourage my book group to read it.
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Summary: Following the struggle comes the prize...and patience.
Review: In today's world where we want gratification of all our needs immediately, OUT OF THE DUSTprovided a reminder that with the struggle comes the prize. As an adult I was mesmerized from page one with the maturity of BillieJo and the patience she showed. Excellent style...
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Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: An EXCELLENTLY well written book that deservedly won the Newberry. Not just a supreme pleasure to read but a true blue eyeopener to what life was like in the "dirty thirties" So poignantly written that my mouth felt full of sand half the time I was reading! My hat is off to Karen Hesse. What an accomplishment!
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Summary: Heartwarming and gut-wrenching, life in the dustbowl.
Review: This was a very moving story. I am an adult and I enjoyed reading this. It was also educational to learn about the ways of life in the 30s in the dustbowl. This book took me to a place I would have not otherwise thought about. Three Cheers to Billy Jo!
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Summary: A young girl in the "dust-bowl" days comes of age
Review: Karen Hesse's story of Billie-Jo won my heart on the first page. Our children need to learn and appreciate poetry, and what better way then by Ms. Hesse's free verse.What an appropriate way to show our children that "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger". Billie -Jo had to learn that the dust that she was trying to shake out was a part of who she was, it made her become that much stronger. Many times we wish things in our lives were "easier", but those are the very instruments that are being used to shape and mold us in the who we can become. Like Billie-Jo, we have to realize that ourselves, no amount of talking can make us see it. Bravo Ms. Hesse!! and thanks.
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Summary: This book was the best I have ever read!!!!!!
Review: I liked this book a lot. At first I thought it might be boring but after I read it I new I had to write something about it, after all it was a good book. I liked the part when Bille Jo had a horrible dream about how her hands were slimy and her fingers started to fall slowly off her hand. I liked that then I kind of didn't because it was grose.
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Summary: When I finished the reading, I felt covered with dust.
Review: After reading the book, I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Hesse at a Reading Conference in Orlando, Florida. She commented on my name, and asked about its origin within my family. She signed my copy of Out Of The Dust with "Look to your roots". It was then that it hit me as to why the book was such a spellbinding piece of descriptive poetry. There is a fourteen year old Billie Jo in every reader, male or female. Our roots groom our being; we are our experiences. As adolescents, we've all felt the shame, the pain, and the dust that has settled in our lives and challenged us to grow, forgive, and continue. For anyone in search of healing, Out Of The Dust is the book you want. The Newberry Award is given to the author who best contributes to adolescent literature. The judges were never more correct than in 1998.
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