Out of the Dust
By Karen Hesse
Main Characters
► Billie
Jo
► Good
► Ma
► Pa
at piano
► 14 years old
(Mother)
► Pregnant
► Died
in the fire
(Father)
► Wanted
► Homeless
► He
► Louise
a son not daughter, but he loves Billie Jo
man
showed Billie Joe his family photo on her run out
► Pa’s
new wife whose fulfill Ma status
Plot Summary
In Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, 14 year old
Billie Jo coped with the hardships of living on a
family wheat farm. Billie Jo's mother dies after an
accident with burning kerosene and Billie Jo
blames herself and her father for her mother's
death. Billie Jo is a talented pianist, but is
reluctant to play after burns scar her hands. She
leaves home, but soon learns how much "dust" is
a part of her. She struggles to survive a difficult
time.
Plot Structure
Mom died because of
Kerosene left by dad on
the stove in the kitchen
Introducing the
character in the story
such as poverty and
farming
Comeback home
and realize that
she could not
escape from the
dust-the hardship
Themes
The Importance of Family
► Losing mother in the family is like missing a
piece of jigsaw. The rest member of family
would feel sad. Billie Jo and her father could not
live as the same as when her mother is alive.
Luckily, her father got a girlfriend Louise who
replaced the status of her mother. It was like the
piece of another different set of jigsaw that fit
the missing space.
Displaced People
► Billie Jo’s family wheat farm in Oklahoma got a
lot of dust which makes difficulty in growing
plants, plus it is dry. While her neighbor moved
out because of these reasons, her father kept
growing the wheat by digging a pool even it is
hopeless because it is hardly to get raining.
Finally, it rained and he could do his farming.
Forgiveness
► The death of Billie Jo’s mother was that her dad
kept kerosene in the kitchen. Her mother thought
that it was water, when she was making tea, so
she put it on the stove and it exploded. She
blamed her dad about this, later she learned that
blaming does not make the situation better.
Therefore, she forgave her dad, and tried to live
with dad and his girl friend.
Lesson Examples
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/dust/i
ntro.html
http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/outoft
hedust/