Out of the Dust
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
1. Beginning: August 1920
2. Rabbit Battles
3. Losing Livie
4. Me and Mad Dog
5. Permission to Play
6. On Stage
7. Birthday for F.D.R.
8. Not Too Much To Ask
9. Mr. Hardly’s Money Handling
10. Fifty Miles South of Home
11. Rules of Dining
12. Breaking Drought
13. Dazzled
14. Debts
15. Foul as Maggoty Stew
16. State Tests
17. Fields of Flashing Light
18. Tested by Dust
19. Banks
20. Beat Wheat
21. Give Up On Wheat
22. What I Don’t Know
23. Apple Blossoms
24. World War
25. Apples
26. Dust and Rain
27. Harvest
28. On The Road With Arley
29. Hope in a Drizzle
30. Dionne Quintuplets
31. Wild Boy of the Road
32. The Accident
33. Burns
34. Nightmare
35. A Tent of Pain
36. Drinking
37. Devoured
38. Blame
39. Birthday
40. Roots
41. The Empty Spaces
42. The Hole
43. Kilauea
44. Boxes
45. Night Bloomer
46. The Path of Our Sorrow
47. Hired Work
48. Almost Rain
49. Those Hands
50. Real Snow
51. Dance Revue
52. Mad Dog’s Tale
53. Art Exhibit
54. State Tests Again
55. Christmas Dinner Without the Cranberry Sauce
56. Driving The Cows
57. First Rain
58. Haydon P. Nye
59. Scrubbing Up Dust
60. Outlined By Dust
61. The President’s Ball
62. Lunch
63. Guests
64. Family School
65. Birth
66. Time To Go
67. Something Sweet From Moonshine
68. Dreams
69. The Competition
70. The Piano Player
71. No Good
72. Snow
73. Night School
74. Dust Pneumonia
75. Dust Storm
76. Broken Promise
77. Motherless
78. Following in His Steps
79. Heartsick
80. Skin
81. Regrets
82. Fire on the Rails
83. The Mail Train
84. Migrants
85. Blankets of Black
86. The Visit
87. Freak Show
88. Help From Uncle Sam
89. Let Down
90. Hope
91. The Rain’s Gift
92. Hope Smothered
93. Sunday Afternoon at the Amarillo Hotel
94. Baby
95. Old Bones
96. The Dream
97. Midnight Truth
98. Out of the Dust
99. Gone West
100. Something Lost, Something Gained
101. Homeward Bound
102. Met
103. Cut It Deep
104. The Other Woman
105. Not Everywhere
106. My Life, or What I Told Louise After the Tenth Time She Came to Dinner
107. November Dust
108. Thanksgiving List
109. Music
110. Teamwork
111. Finding a Way
Themes
All Themes
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Quotes
Characters
All Characters
Billie Jo
Billie Jo’s Father
Billie Jo’s Mother
Louise
Mad Dog Craddock
Arley Wanderdale
Terms
All Terms
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Dust Bowl
Symbols
All Symbols
Apples
Rain
Download PDF
Download Teacher Edition
AI Tools
Ask LitCharts AI
Discussion Question Generator
Essay Prompt Generator
Quiz Question Generator
Guides
Literature Guides
Poetry Guides
Shakespeare Translations
Literary Terms
Sign In
Sign up for A
+
Sign up
Out of the Dust
by
Karen Hesse
PDF
Upgrade to A
+
Introduction
Intro
Plot Summary
Plot
Summary & Analysis
1. Beginning: August 1920
2. Rabbit Battles
3. Losing Livie
4. Me and Mad Dog
5. Permission to Play
6. On Stage
7. Birthday for F.D.R.
8. Not Too Much To Ask
9. Mr. Hardly’s Money Handling
10. Fifty Miles South of Home
11. Rules of Dining
12. Breaking Drought
13. Dazzled
14. Debts
15. Foul as Maggoty Stew
16. State Tests
17. Fields of Flashing Light
18. Tested by Dust
19. Banks
20. Beat Wheat
21. Give Up On Wheat
22. What I Don’t Know
23. Apple Blossoms
24. World War
25. Apples
26. Dust and Rain
27. Harvest
28. On The Road With Arley
29. Hope in a Drizzle
30. Dionne Quintuplets
31. Wild Boy of the Road
32. The Accident
33. Burns
34. Nightmare
35. A Tent of Pain
36. Drinking
37. Devoured
38. Blame
39. Birthday
40. Roots
41. The Empty Spaces
42. The Hole
43. Kilauea
44. Boxes
45. Night Bloomer
46. The Path of Our Sorrow
47. Hired Work
48. Almost Rain
49. Those Hands
50. Real Snow
51. Dance Revue
52. Mad Dog’s Tale
53. Art Exhibit
54. State Tests Again
55. Christmas Dinner Without the Cranberry Sauce
56. Driving The Cows
57. First Rain
58. Haydon P. Nye
59. Scrubbing Up Dust
60. Outlined By Dust
61. The President’s Ball
62. Lunch
63. Guests
64. Family School
65. Birth
66. Time To Go
67. Something Sweet From Moonshine
68. Dreams
69. The Competition
70. The Piano Player
71. No Good
72. Snow
73. Night School
74. Dust Pneumonia
75. Dust Storm
76. Broken Promise
77. Motherless
78. Following in His Steps
79. Heartsick
80. Skin
81. Regrets
82. Fire on the Rails
83. The Mail Train
84. Migrants
85. Blankets of Black
86. The Visit
87. Freak Show
88. Help From Uncle Sam
89. Let Down
90. Hope
91. The Rain’s Gift
92. Hope Smothered
93. Sunday Afternoon at the Amarillo Hotel
94. Baby
95. Old Bones
96. The Dream
97. Midnight Truth
98. Out of the Dust
99. Gone West
100. Something Lost, Something Gained
101. Homeward Bound
102. Met
103. Cut It Deep
104. The Other Woman
105. Not Everywhere
106. My Life, or What I Told Louise After the Tenth Time She Came to Dinner
107. November Dust
108. Thanksgiving List
109. Music
110. Teamwork
111. Finding a Way
Themes
All Themes
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Quotes
Characters
All Characters
Billie Jo
Billie Jo’s Father
Billie Jo’s Mother
Louise
Mad Dog Craddock
Arley Wanderdale
Terms
All Terms
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Dust Bowl
Symbols
All Symbols
Apples
Rain
Theme Wheel
Theme Viz
Download this Chart (PDF)
Download the Teacher Edition
Get instant help with LitCharts AI
New
Back to Guide
Previous
11. Rules of Dining
Out of the Dust: 12. Breaking Drought
Summary & Analysis
Next
13. Dazzled
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in
Out of the Dust
, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Following 70 straight days of storms and sand blowing everywhere, the
Panhandle
finally gets some
rain
.
Rain is an important symbol in the novel because it represents hope—something Billie Jo and her family desperately need.
Active
Themes
Previous
11. Rules of Dining
Previous
11. Rules of Dining
Next
13. Dazzled
Next
13. Dazzled
Cite This Page
Company
About Us
Our Story
Jobs
Support
Help Center
Contact Us
Connect
Facebook
Twitter
Legal
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Privacy Request
Home
About
Contact
Help
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved
Terms
Privacy
Privacy Request
Save time. Stress less.
Sign up!
AI Tools
for on-demand study help and teaching prep.
Quote explanations,
with page numbers, for over 45,220 quotes.
PDF downloads
of all 2,040 LitCharts guides.
Expert analysis
to take your reading to the next level.
Advanced search
to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
Quizzes, saving guides, requests,
plus so much more.
Expert analysis
to take your reading to the next level.
Advanced search
to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
Quizzes, saving guides, requests,
plus so much more.
Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account
You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes.
or
Complete your free account to request a guide
Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account.
You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles.
or
Complete your free account to access notes and highlights
Saving guides requires a free LitCharts account
Easily access your saved guides anytime.
or
Complete your free account to save guides