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| Scholastic, 1997 |
"Red's the color I've stayed ever since," proclaims Billy Jo in the opening poem of Karen Hesse's
Out of the Dust. Billy Jo is caught in the dust of the Oklahoma panhandle amidst a trying time in our nation's history. The daughter of a farmer, Billy Jo and her mother rely on the success of her father's wheat farm to survive. Rain is sparse for the Joyce City family and dust is described by Hesse as covering everything. Billy Jo's mother is still exemplifies humility in these trying times, telling her daughter to return the two extra pennies that were given as change from a corrupt grocer. The color red appears again when Billy Jo recounts his time in France during the World War. Red poppies were present on the headstones of fallen soldiers, Billy Jo's father tells his family. A terrible accident occurs when Billy Jo accidentally burns her mother. Billy Jo suffers from burns to her hands, while her mother is almost destroyed by fire. The death of her mother and newly born brother create a strong silence in the household of dust between Billy Jo and her father. As time passes and missed opportunities for harvests come and go, Billy Jo's father remains hopeful of success. Billy Jo's once prosperous and lucrative piano playing declines after her hands were badly burned from the accident. The end of the novel tells of Billy Jo's partner in music, Mad Dog, making a new life outside of the dust at a radio station. Billy Jo continues to suffer from guilt and despair over the loss of her mother and brother as her father begins to show signs of skin cancer. An urge to truly breathe outside of the dust provokes Billy Jo to hop on a train and ride away from her old life. Billy Jo returns after the realization that she cannot truly escape and she returns to her father. Her father and Billy Jo begin to speak again when he starts to fall for a new woman. After accepting this new woman, Billy Jo sits down to play the piano again with her healed hands.
Gripping in language and narrative, Hesse crafts the feelings of a young heroine with free verse poetry. The rhythm of verse in
Out of the Dust is very captivating. Hesse's story creates a character out of the dust that consumes the lives of Billy Jo's family. A hyperbole of dust, fire takes the lives of Billy Jo's mother and newly born brother, whom she names Franklin. The loss of Ma is definitely one of the novel's greatest tragedies, and this loss influences Billy Jo to contemplate her relationship with her father. I was shaken by the brutal realities faced by an ordinary American family caught in the draught of post-war resources. Truly worthy of the Newbury Medal for Excellence, analyzing such a dense work is daunting.
Out of the Dust is an enormously heartfelt story.
Scholastic provides a discussion guide for teaching this novel:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/out-dust-discussion-guide
Wow, I never thought about the author creating a character from the dust. I noted that the dust and the weather played a large role in the lives of all of the characters in the book but never thought of the dust as a character itself! Great connection.
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting the color red into perspective in this book review. Many times the color was mentioned, but I never analyzed it any further. I wonder how Billie Jo felt about the color red after the fire accident with her mother? Would this color also represent the intense pain she suffered as a burn victim and from the sudden loss of her mother and guilt surrounding the accident? There is so much detail to discuss in this beautifully written free-verse novel.
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