Out of the Dust

Reader reviewed by Jacqueline

Out of the Dust is a book about a girl who is living through the Dust Bowl which is during the Great Depression. In the beginning, she accidentally pours gasoline (thinking it is water) on a fire and causes her mom and little brother to die. She also has painful burns on herself. The story is how she survives and forgives herself and her dad. It is written in beautiful poetry.

Reader reviewed by stellargurl

this is a really great book. its about this girl named billy-joe. the reason she got that name was because her father named her that cause he wanted a boy but got a girl instead. in the beggining of the book eveything is fine. in the middle billy-joe's mom gets pragnant with a baby boy and the father is really happy and excited. the mom delivers the boy and everything works out great and is fine. then one day bad things starts happening to them and some is lost. read this great book to find out what happens. i would recomen it to any 5graders cuz that the grade i was in when my teacher read it to us.

Reader reviewed by Joey S.

I give Karen Hesse two thumbs up for this book! I loved this story. Very exciting and some sad parts. GREAT READER, I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND!! read it as SOON as possible! told in a very eye catching way. LOVED it!

Reader reviewed by lookwhaticando

This book is very good book. It is writtin in poem form, but it is not a poem. It was set in the olden days. It is about a girl who goes through many things, which some things make you laugh, cry, mad, and many other things. A great fast read for all ages.

Reader reviewed by Amanda

In the time of the Great Depression, a young pianist girl, Billie, is playing her life for us through Out of the Dust. She lives in the Dust Bowl where her family has a farm. She loves piano and has a great gift for it. Also, in the area, her family grows apple trees. One day, her mother asks her to get the water for the trees. She picks up the kerosene kettle instead. She comes out to her mom and topples her burning her mother and the baby inside her. The baby is lost. Billie can barely play the piano with her own burnt hands. The mom is injured, sad, and angry. How will all of this affect the crop lacking rain? Read Out of the Dust to find out!


Billie’s diary vividly expresses the truths and opinions of the Dust Bowl and its inhabitants in the form of graceful poetry. The conflict and sorrow in this novel will tear readers apart. My enjoyment of the story came through the piano-playing. I am a piano player. I recommend Out of the Dust for ages 10 and up, although, many students have chosen it for any easy read in older years. I give it 5 stars for uniqueness and originality.

Reader reviewed by HawkeyeRob

Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust is a beautifully written story of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, a time when the Great Depression and the dust blew into Oklahoma like a Midwestern snowstorm.

I recently recommended this book to my daughter, who had just returned a Dear America book to the library without finishing it, something she rarely does. "Don't you like historical fiction?" I asked her.

"Not really," she told me. "I don't like diary books much either."

I convinced her to try Out of the Dust by telling her about Hesse's descriptions of the dust storms, which makes them seem a lot like the blizzard we had just experienced in Iowa a few days before. She loved it. "It was sad," she told me, "but it was so good. What else has she written?"

Can there be any better compliment for a writer than a reader finishing her book, then wanting to read more of her work?