Oklahoma

Gracie said, "Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, is my recommendation for Oklahoma. This Newbery Medal book is easy enough for a child to read but deep enough for an adult of any educational level to enjoy. It's a good book for parents and children to read together, too - could spark a lot of discussion and opportunities to research and learn more about many of the topics raised in the book."

It's 1934 in the Oklahoma Panhandle and fourteen-year-old Billie Jo must face the devastation of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Billie Jo creates incredible images to keep her soul alive in the bleakness. Through her eyes we see the dust's coming "like a fired locomotive" that "hisses against the windows" and feel its textures as "my lowered face was scrubbed raw by dirt and wind. / Grit scratched my eyes, / it crunched between my teeth...." She tells of its treachery too, until it becomes almost a character in the book. Billie Jo writes of how she accidentally sets her mother on fire with a bucket of burning kerosene. Billie Jo's swollen lumps of hands won't let her help her suffering mother, or play the piano, which once comforted her.

After reading that online, I (Bonnie) want to know if things get better for Billie Jo. Thanks for suggesting this book, Gracie. It brings to mind a similar book I read a few years ago. Treasures in the Dust by Tracey Porter is about half as long as Out of the Dust, and the two girls in it are only 11 years old.

Eleven-year-olds Annie and Violet are best friends growing up in Cimmaron County, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression. The day Annie learned to walk the first dust storm hit. Hardship is the only thing the girls have known in their short lives, but like children everywhere they adapt, play, and go to school together. Their families help each other out during the hard times. Annie loves her home and digging through the dust for arrowheads, and dreams of becoming an anthropologist. Violet loves to pretend and act out stories; she dreams of getting away from the dust and moving to California.

When things take a turn for the worse in Violet's family, Violet is forced to stay home from school to help out. Finally, in order to save their land from the bank, Violet's family boards up their home and heads to California like so many before them. Annie mourns the loss of her friend and the two vow to keep in touch. Their contrasting letters chronicle the return of the rain (and hope) in Oklahoma and the despair of life in the California migrant worker camps. In the end, Violet and Annie discover that the "treasures in the dust" are truly found in each other and their families.