Despite their hardships, the Kelbys focus on their day-to-day work, chores, and schooling they also excitedly await the arrival of a new baby. Dust storms also plague the area because of the dry conditions and high winds. Additionally, a series of severe droughts show little sign of letting up, so the wheat crop Billie Jo’s father counts on are constantly in danger.

The nation is suffering economically many have lost jobs, and the family has little cash for supplies or material goods. Billie Jo attends school, excels academically, and loves to play piano, especially fast, energetic tunes. She lives on a small farm with parents Bayard and Polly in Cimarron County, Oklahoma. Protagonist Billie Jo Kelby is 13 when the story opens in January of 1934. Content warnings: Billie Jo’s mother sustains fatal burns in an accident there are three uses of the term “crippled” to describe injuries. This guide references the 1997 edition by Scholastic Press. Out of the Dust won the John Newbery Award and the Scott O’Dell Award in 1998 and was named an ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Notable Children’s Book. The novel explores themes of finding hope amidst tragedy, the resilience of the human spirit, and the impact of man’s ignorance on the environment. After a tragic accident results in the death of Billie Jo’s mother and baby brother, she and her father must find a way to reconcile with the past, the future, and each other despite their grief and guilt. Through 110 first-person free verse poems, the narrative tells the story of two years in the life of Billie Jo Kelby, young daughter of a struggling farming family in the Oklahoma Panhandle in the mid-1930s. Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust is a historical middle-grade novel in verse first published in 1997.

Night job karen hesse