Her mother is taken inside and treated by the local doctor, but she never again looks like 'Ma' to Billie Jo since she is unrecognizable through her burns. Billie Jo beats the flames with her bare hands in an attempt to save her mother and unborn sibling. Unfortunately, her mother is running back to the house at the same time, and the kerosene sets her clothes ablaze.

Thinking the house may catch fire, Billie Jo throws the can of kerosene out the door. Horrified, she runs out to the fields in search of her husband. Mistaking it for water, her mother sets it on fire while trying to make coffee. One day while Billie Jo's pregnant mother is making breakfast, her father leaves a pail of kerosene next to the stove and then goes out into the fields.

Daddy thinks about taking a loan to plant some wheat, which Ma advises against, as more dust comes. FDR's New Deal is a series of programs to assist farmers (along with the rest of the country). As dust storms swoop in and steal any hope of profit from wheat, the US government makes moves to try to help the area. The opening of the book also describes the dust storms causing trouble on farms, a vital part of the rural farming community, for it is a homestead area. He still loves her but treats her like the son he never had, rough and tough. Summary īillie Jo begins with how her father wanted to have a son instead of a daughter. Out of the Dust is a children's verse novel by Karen Hesse, first published on January 1, 1997. Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic Inc.

Night job by karen hesse pdf