HESSE, Karen. Out of the Dust. NY: Scholastic Press [1997]. 12mo, [x] 227pp. Gray quarter-cloth stamped in dark gray with light gray speckled boards. Gray endpapers. A fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (no medal affixed). With a bookplate signed by the author, Karen Hess, laid in!

 

First edition. 1998 Newbery Medal Winner!  This wonderful novel-in-verse explores the life of fourteen-year-old Billie Jo growing up in the dust bowls of Oklahoma. A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo's life, scarring her inside and out. Her mother is gone. Her father can't talk about it. And the one thing that might make her feel better -- playing the piano -- is impossible with her wounded hands. Billie Jo is left to find peace in the bleak landscape of Oklahoma -- and in the surprising landscape of her own heart.