Out of the Dust |
Publication Information
|
Author: Hesse, Karen |
Illustrator: |
Title: Out of the Dust |
Date: 1997 |
Publisher: Scholastic Press |
City: New York |
ISBN, paperback: 0-590-36080-9 |
ISBN, hardback: |
Recommended audience:
|
ABE/ABLE:
Yes |
ESOL:
|
Family:
Yes |
Young Adult:
Yes |
Picture:
|
|
General Information:
|
Book Type(s):
historical fiction, poetry, memoirs/reminiscences
|
HSE Descriptor(s):
language arts - reading| social studies
|
Summary: |
Set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl years of the Depression, this powerful book tells in unobtrusive blank verse the story of personal tragedy and community hardship through the experiences of Billy Jo, a 15-year-old girl. The book is so credible that the reader can almost taste the grit. |
Teaching Ideas: |
Because the characters are so well developed, teachers might ask readers to write a sketch of one of the characters and revise it as they read or to develop a matrix of characters, traits and actions. In the book, family bonds are stressed by hardship. Students might discuss what traits help a family survive and what contribute to failure. Students might enjoy exploring and experimenting with free verse to see how it differs from more formal poetry and from prose. In addition teachers could include this book in a unit on weather.
Check the following web sites for photographs, recordings, history and other links about the Dust Bowl: http://dc.peachnet.edu/~pgore/students/w97/tanyacox/dustbowl.htm, http://www.lubbock.k12.tx.us/rush/lessons/dustbowl.html, and http://www.mindspring.com/~jwar/dust/dustbowl.htm. |
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword |
|