Karen Hesse is an author with the ability to inspire and motivate readers to tackle difficult topics. Many of her books deal with difficult issues. She has written three historical fiction books and loves the connection to the past that this format provides.

Wish on a Unicorn The Music of the Dolphins A Time of Angels Phoenix Rising Letters from Riftka

Sable Poppy’s Chair Lavender Lester’s Dog

Hesse was born and raised in Balitmore, Md. She was married at age 19 and now makes her home in Vermont with her husband Randy and daughters Kate and Rachel. Hesse’s editor describes her as empathetic, quiet and humble, yet a born performer in front of an audience. Her books show that she loves the land, values independence, and feels that family is important.

Hesse began her writing efforts with poetry. With two small children to nurture, she found it hard to focus on poetry and turned to literature. Explaining why she chose to write Out of the Dust in free verse, she said, “I never attempted to write this book any other way than in free verse. The frugality of the life, the hypnotically hard work of farming, the grimness of conditions during the dust bowl demanded an economy of words. Daddy and Ma and Billie Jo’s rawboned life translated into poetry…”

The inspiration for Out of the Dust came from a visit to Kansas during which Hesse experienced a tornado. These experiences in the Midwest were the beginnings of a story centered in the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression. Karen Hesse did many hours of research with the aid of the Oklahoma Historical Society to create validity and accuracy in retelling of this trying and demanding time in our country’s history. Karen hopes that young adults reading this story will come away with a sense of desperation of the times and how forgiveness affects our everyday lives.

Out of the Dust is a series of free-verse poems written by Karen Hesse. Billie Jo is a red-headed, talented, young pianist who happens to love apples. She is also excited about the expected arrival of a new baby in the family. Billie Jo will almost be 14 by the time the baby is born. She knows daddy wants a boy.

Billie Jo experiences the darkness of the times. With her dad’s crops failing, Billie Jo and her expectant mother are also involved in a tragic accident that changes Billie Jo’s life forever. She is left without a mother and without the ability to play the piano. In addition to this, Billie Jo and her father have grown more distant and seldom talk since the deaths of her mother and baby brother. As she struggles to work on a relationship with a distant father, Billie Jo feels that she is drowning in the dust.

She catches a train and runs away from home. She spends the night talking to a homeless man about his family. After reaching Flagstaff, Arizona, Billie Jo decides to return home and face the life she left behind.

Billie Jo reaches a turning point in her life. As she and her dad walk back home from town, they both realize that changes need to take place for them to survive. Daddy promises to have the spots on his skin checked, and Billie Jo decides to stretch her scarred hands across the keys of the piano again. Louise, a friend of Daddy’s, enters their lives at the end of the story, bringing new light, new hope, and a new future. Billie Jo slowly learns to open up, love, forgive, and trust again.

Clark, Sarah K. "About the Author." A Guide for Using Out of the Dust in the Classroom: Based on the Novel by Karen Hesse. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Print. Clark, Sarah K. "Out of the Dust." A Guide for Using Out of the Dust in the Classroom: Based on the Novel by Karen Hesse. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Print.