Transcript Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
Context and Background Notes
Author: Karen Hesse
• Born in Baltimore, MD; now
lives and writes in Vermont
• Graduated from University of
Maryland
• Awards:
– Newberry Medal for Out of the
Dust
– McArthur Fellows Program
– Scott O’Dell Award for Historical
Fiction for Out of the Dust
• Other books:
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Phoenix Rising
Sable
Witness
Brooklyn Bridge
And many more!
Setting: Oklahoma 1934
• The Dust Bowl
• The Great
Depression
• Between the World
Wars (I and II)
• A bleak landscape
• Incredible poverty-living off the land.
Characters
•
Billie Jo - This is a thirteenyear-old girl and the narrator of
the story
•
Ma - Billie Jo’s mother. An
always present figure in the
novel
•
Daddy - Billie Jo’s father. A
farmer to the bone.
•
Franklin - Billie Jo’s baby
brother
•
Arley Wanderdale - a musician
and the school music teacher,
•
Mad Dog - a boy who seems to
be about Billie Jo's age. He is a
rival musician.
•
Livie - Billie Jo’s best friend;
she is the first person to leave
the Dust.
•
Aunt Ellis - Daddy's sister who
comes to take her baby brother
Franklin away but arrives too
late.
•
President Roosevelt - He
helps out the poor farmers with
feed, seed and jobs through the
CCC.
•
Mr. Hardly - the owner of the
store nearby and often
overcharges his customers.
•
Wild Boy - he is polite and
works hard; Ma knows he has a
mother somewhere who wants
him to come home.
Novel or Poetry? (or both…)
According to an excerpt from Dear Librarian:
What is a verse novel?
by Dear Librarian
Verse novels are an extraordinary way to read a story. The
entire story is written in verse–rather than prose. Prose are
usually what fiction books are written in. That means the
story is told in sentences which become paragraphs then
pages and turn into chapters. In a verse novel the story is
told through poems–rhyming or not, it doesn’t matter. Each
turn of the page leads to poetry. The rhythm of verse
novels becomes hypnotic making this type of book a very
quick read.
Extra Resources
• Out of the Dust Booktalk
• Karen Hesse Interview
• Movie clip from O, Brother Where Art
Thou