FREE VERSE NOVEL REVIEW

Poetry Break 6 (book review free verse novel)

OUT OF THE DUST
By: Karen Hesse


Bibliography

Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. New York: Scholastic, ISBN 0590360809

PLOT SUMMARY

Karen Hesse won the 1998 Newbery Award for OUT OF THE DUST which chronicles the life of a teenager and her family during the dust bowl of the 1930’s. Dust covers everything in this area of Oklahoma and brings one disaster after another. As soon as the dust is cleared, another storm rolls in. Billie Jo must also endure the death of her mother, following a tragic accident when Billie Joe throws hot grease out the door to keep the house from burning. Billie Jo, who loves to play the piano, is also severely burned on her hands and unable to play any longer. The book takes the reader through the long healing process of accepting her mother’s death, the burns that she inflicted, and the healing of her relationship with her dad.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The hardships that this Oklahoma family endures are well developed through numerous brief titled verses from the winter of 1934 through the fall of 1935. This first person account gives a glimpse of family life and hardships are recorded in almost diary form, but rather than daily, it is a monthly glimpse. Some months are given more significance than others in the amount of information shared. In January 1934 Billie Jo plays the piano with such inspiration “On Stage” that

When I point my fingers at the keys,
the music
springs right out of me.

Then following the burns to her hands in May of 1935 “Let Down”

I was invited to graduation,
To play the piano.

I couldn’t play.
It had been too long.
My hands wouldn’t work.
I just sat on the piano bench,
Staring down at the keys.

and then finally in November 1935 “Music”

I am getting to know the music again.
And it is getting to know me.

This novel has the organizational structure of a verse novel giving the reader a view of the inner workings of the mind of the character known as Billie Jo. The situations that this family endured during the dust bowl are believable, dramatic and historically correct. Although this book is fiction, it is a very realistic story that deals with healing and grief. As I read this book and began to analyze it, I am of the opinion that the “dust” is not just the physical dust that was described in the book. Not just the mountains of sand, but the monumental tasks of overcoming the backbreaking work, the disappointments, the loss of a mother and the inability to play the piano. Billie Jo had to shake off the dust of disillusionment as well as keeping the house free of dust. The author vividly describes the storms that were so severe that people had to hold on to each other to keep from being lost in storms as dangerous as blizzards as well as the emotional roller coaster of Billie Jo's life.

REVIEWS:

School Library Journal: Set in the Oklahoma dust bowl during the Great Depression, Billie Jo has a great deal to forgive: her father for causing the accident that killed her mother, her mother for leaving when she needed her the most, herself for being the cause of her own sorrow.

Horn Book Guide: In first-person free-verse poems fourteen-year-old Billie Jo relates her Depression-era experiences in the Oklahoma panhandle. Billie Jo's aborted escape from the dust bowl almost gets lost in a procession of bleak events, instead of serving as the book's climax. Yet her voice, nearly every word informed by longing, provides an immediacy that expressively depicts both a grim historical era and one family's healing.

CONNECTIONS:

Parts of this book such as “Dust Storm” (pg. 142) and “Blankets of Black” (pg. 162) would be good to read during a science lesson on weathering, erosion and deposition. We are studying this in science at this time and I plan to share these sections of the book with my class.

http://memory.loc.gov – This is an excellent source for photographs of the era of the dust bowl. There are photographs of the people, land and also refuge camps of those that fled to California. I tried to enter the direct link, but was unsuccessful. However, you can go to the link above and then search for “dust bowl” and you will be taken to the appropriate area.

Related Book: CHILDREN OF THE DUST BOWL THE TRUE STORY OF THE SCHOOL AT WEEDPATCH CAMP By: Jerry Stanley

This book is an excellent way to develop insight to the lives of people living through the 1930’s dust bowl. I would introduce this by telling a story of my mother and dad’s life during the dust bowl. Mom used to tell us stories about how terrible the storms were and how disheartening it was to try to farm without rain and with the wind blowing the seeds and plants down. My parents were newly married and living in Foard County, Texas at the time, so this is of personal interest to me as well.