History Literature / OutOfTheDust

''Out of the Dust'' is a 1997 HistoricalFiction novel by acclaimed children's author Karen Hesse. It won the UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal in 1998.

The novel is a collection of free-verse poems, making it a unique entry in the world of ChildrensLiterature. The plot deals with its protagonist Billie Jo Kelby, a [[{{Tomboy}} tomboyish]], talented pianist, struggling to survive in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl during TheGreatDepression. She has a [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest kind]] mother, nicknamed Ma, [[DeathByNewberyMedal who dies tragically]], and a [[TheStoic distant]] father, nicknamed Daddy. As the novel progresses, Billie Jo and Daddy [[CharacterDevelopment learn to endure]] their tough existences, as well as the hole in their lives created by the death of Ma.

* DrowningHisSorrows: After Ma gets disfigured in the kerosene accident, Bayard does this in a nearby town called Guymon to forget his life's problems, despite the fact that Ma is unable to do anything for herself and Billie Jo can't help her much due to how badly burned her own hands are. [[WhatTheHellHero Billie Jo isn't happy about it]], although she forgives him for it fairly quickly (at least, much quicker than for causing the freak accident).
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Well, not really a ''happy'' ending - it ''is'' TheGreatDepression, after all. But after a bookload of suffering, the surviving characters are much happier by the end than at any other point in the entire novel, especially Daddy.

* {{Hunk}}: Daddy; Billie Jo remarks on his good looks a few times. [[spoiler: It's implied to be the reason why Louise fell for him.]]

* NotSoStoic: When Billie Jo and Daddy go to a town ball, he actually ''smiles and laughs.'' Billie is noticeably shocked. (Not in a bad way, of course.)

** From the chapter "Blame":
-->''She came to bring my brother back to Lubbock to raise as her own, but my brother died before Aunt Ellis got here''.

** From the chapter "The Other Woman":
-->''Her name is Louise, she stayed by Daddy the days I was away''.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: [[InUniverse In-universe,]] one of the TalentContest contestants, Birdie Jasper, thinks this is going on when Billie gets a prize, claiming the judges are [[InspirationallyDisadvantaged "just being nice to a cripple."]] The other performers disagree.

* TheSwarm: As if things weren't hard enough for Billie Jo, a giant swarm of grasshoppers comes and devours every leaf and apple on her mother's two apple trees on the same day that her mother dies giving birth to her stillborn brother.

* TheSwarm: As if things weren't hard enough for Billie Jo, a giant swarm of locusts comes and devours every leaf and apple on her mother's two apple trees on the same day that her mother dies giving birth to her stillborn brother.

* TheSwarm: As if things weren't hard enough for Billie Jo, a giant swarm of locusts comes and devours every leaf and piece of fruit on her mother's two apple trees.

** Daddy leaves a pail of kerosene beside the stove without telling anyone.

* GossipyHens: [[spoiler: After her dead baby brother is taken away to be buried, Billie Jo overhears two women gossiping about the accident, focusing on Billie Jo's having thrown the pail of kerosene. She's furious and anguished that they don't mention the part where her father left a pail of kerosene out or the fact that he left her alone to go get drunk, but rather are solely blaming Billie Jo as though her father had zero part in anything.]]

* GossipyHens: [[spoiler: After her dead baby brother is taken away to be buried, Billie Jo overhears two women gossiping about the accident, focusing on Billie Jo's having thrown the pail of kerosene. She's furious and anguished that they don't mention the part where her father left a pail of kerosene out or the fact that he left her alone to go get drunk, but rather tell the story in a way that makes it seem like Billie Jo is the only one to blame.]]