"OUT OF THE DUST"

BILLIE JO

• My name is Billie Jo. I live with both my parents
• In a small house in Oklahoma.

BILLIE JO

• Unfortunately we havent had rain in a long time.
• Pa is a wheat cropper, which isnt good because
• The rain isn't coming and he can't make crops. Ma is
• A cleaner in the house, I normally help her with that
• Because theres so much dust, from the storms.

FAMILY

• My mother is a skinny, tall and an ordinary woman.
• Ma taught me piano young, piano and music is my favorite
• thing to do.
• Overall we're just another family trying to live
• through the storms and tornadoes, and Dust.

LIFE

• We live on a Farm near Joyce City.
• The drought has caused a life in poverty, and lack of money
• From Pa.

SCHOOL

• I go to school regularly, I am the top 8th grader in
• Oklahoma Ma and Pa are proud of that.

SCHOOL

• My music teacher named Arley Wanderdale
• asked me to play piano at the theatre in a band and I was
• really excited because I love performing, and I was
• promised a small money earning, until in july the worst
• thing possible happened to me.

FAMILY

• My dad made a mistake that hurt Ma, Franklin,
• And Me. He left kerosene out by the stove, Ma
• making a kind gesture is making Pa coffee.

PAIN

• Ma takes the bucket of kerosene thinking It's
• Water and it burns into flames, Ma then runs
• outside to get Pa, I tried to help but
• the flames got to her.
• It was burning her up until I patted out the flames with my hands.

SUFFER

• My hands were severely burned but Ma was
• burned all over. This is what seemed to be
• my fault because of my uneeded urgency to
• act before I think.

DEATH

• Worst part was Ma dies and so did her
• baby and my future brother named Franklin.
• I feel guilty because of the whole burning incident.
• This was the worst period of time of my life.
• Losing my mother and brother and suffering burns emptied me.

LOSING FAMILY

• I was angry at my father and myself.
• I couldn't forgive, together we forced our loves
• Out of our lives.

PIANO

• I can't play Ma's piano without the constant
• thought of Pa's mistakes as well as mine.

PLAY PIANO

• I heard about a talent contest, I figured
• I could play my piano but I realized I couldn't.
• I felt crippled came to a realization that I needed
• to leave the Dust Bowl.

AUNT ELLIS

• I was told by Aunt Ellis that I was welcomed
• to leave the Dust Storms and join my Aunt in
• Texas. I used this as a reminder to escape.

JOURNEY

• I decided to leave,
• I left and came to realize that
• I couldn't leave the Dust.

UNDERSTANDING

• I began to understand my father's grief, and
• sorrow towards the family. I forgave him and
• myself. I returned home with my father and a
• restored relationship.

Works Cited
"About The Dust Bowl." About The Dust Bowl. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
"Dust Bowl During the Great Depression - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress." Dust Bowl During the Great Depression - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"The Dust Bowl of the 1930s." The Dust Bowl of the 1930s. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
"Dust Storms in the 1930s Dust Bowl." Dust Storms in the 1930s Dust Bowl. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Print.
N.p., n.d. Web.
"Oklahoma Historical Society." Oklahoma Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Trimarchi, Maria. HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.