Dust Bowl

Out of the Dust
Karen Hesse

Summary:

     Billie Joe must deal with personal loss and tragedy as she and her father try to survive the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.  Told in first person free verse poetry, this story is both page turning and extremely eye opening.  

     After the heart wrenching loss of her pregnant mother, Billie Joe and her father face two seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  First, they must attempt to deal with the void that was cast upon their mother's death.  Second, Billie Joe and her dad must try to survive the Dust Bowl and it ravages their land and crops.  

Teaching Tips:

 1) Wow!  Simply Wow!  This book is an amazing verse-novel for fourth-graders and above.  This is a powerful book to place in the hands of reluctant readers, verse-novel lovers, and historical fiction fans. 

 2)  The Dust Bowl is not the most widely discussed historical event in Social Studies classrooms.  As such, Out of the Dust is a great resource for students to learn about this man made natural disaster.  This book would make a great text set with picture books, novels, and informational text regarding The Dust Bowl.   

3) At the end of the book is a section entitled "After Words".  The contents include: 

About the Author

Behind the Scenes: Writing Out of the Dust

Q and A with Karen Hesse

Photographing the Great Depression 

Billie Jo's World, Make Your Own Applesauce 

Extracts from Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal Speech 

Additional Resources: 

Surviving The Dust Bowl

History Channel Video through YouTube.  This video discusses includes videos, photos, and first hand testimony of survivors of The Dust Bowl.  

Scholastic Storia Teacher Guide

Extensive activities and lessons to use before, during, and after reading the story.   

Library of Congress Lesson Plan

Another great resource.  Use this as a 1-2 week lesson plan or a resource to share additional information with your students.