Out Of The Dust

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• ISBN13: 9780590371254
• Demand: New

Description

This gripping story, written in sparse first-person, free-verse poems, is the compelling tale of Billie Jo's struggle to survive during the dust bowl years of the Depression. With stoic courage, she learns to cope with the loss of her mother and her grieving father's slow deterioration. There is hope at the end when Billie Jo's badly burned hands are healed, and she is able to play her beloved piano again. The 1998 Newbery Medal winner.

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Like the Oklahoma dust bowl from which she came, 14-year-old narrator Billie Jo writes in sparse, free-floating verse. In this compelling, immediate journal, Billie Jo reveals the grim domestic realities of living during the years of constant dust storms: That hopes--like the crops--blow away in the night like skittering tumbleweeds. That trucks, tractors, even Billie Jo's beloved piano, can suddenly be buried beneath drifts of dust. Perhaps swallowing all that grit is what gives Billie Jo--our strong, endearing, rough-cut heroine--the stoic courage to face the death of her mother after a hideous accident that also leaves her piano-playing hands in pain and permanently scarred.

Meanwhile, Billie Jo's silent, windblown father is literally decaying with grief and skin cancer before her very eyes. When she decides to flee the lingering ghosts and dust of her homestead and jump a train west, she discovers a simple but profound truth about herself and her plight. There are no tight, sentimental endings here--just a steady ember of hope that brightens Karen Hesse's exquisitely written and mournful tale. Hesse won the 1998 Newbery Award for this elegantly crafted, gut-wrenching novel, and her fans won't want to miss The Music of Dolphins or Letters from Rifka. (Ages 9 and older) --Gail Hudson

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Witness

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• Notes: Disgrace NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
• ISBN13: 9780439272001
• Form: New

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It is 1924, and a small Vermont town finds itself under siege--by the Ku Klux Klan. Using free verse, Newbery Medal-winning author Karen Hesse (Out of the Dust) allows 11 unique and memorable voices to relate the story of the Klan's steady infiltration into the conscience of a small, Prohibition-era community. The Klan's "all-American" philosophy is at first embraced by several of the town's influential men, including Constable Parcelle Johnson and retailer Harvey Pettibone. But Harvey's sensible wife, Viola, and independent restaurant owner Iris Weaver suspect from the beginning that the Klan's arrival heralds trouble. As the only African Americans in town, 12-year old Leonora Sutter and her father try to escape Klan scrutiny, while 6-year-old, city-born Esther Hirsch remains blissfully unaware of the Klan's prejudice against Jews as she enjoys the Vermont countryside. And Sara Chickering, the lady farmer who has opened her home to Esther and her father, is torn between her own hidden biases and her growing love for Esther.

All, however, are galvanized towards action when a shadowy figure shoots at Esther and her father right through Sara's front door. Who would commit such an evil act? And is it too late to remove the poison that has insidiously leaked into their once tight-knit community? Part mystery, part social commentary, Hesse's historically accurate chronicle is a riveting catalyst for discussion that thoughtfully explores race and identity from every possible point of view. The free verse format and distinct characterizations also make Witness a perfect choice for library or classroom reader's theater productions. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

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Letters from Rifka

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Phoenix Rising

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Stowaway

Description

It is known that in the summer of 1768, Captain James Cook sailed from England on H.M.S Endeavour, beginning a three-year voyage around the world on a secret mission to discover an unknown continent at the bottom of the globe. What is less known is that a boy by the name of Nicholas Young was a stowaway on that ship.

Newbery winner Karen Hesse re-creates Cook's momentous voyage through the eyes of this remarkable boy, creating a fictional journal filled with fierce hurricanes, warring natives, and disease, as Nick discovers new lands, incredible creatures, and lifelong friends.

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To 11-year-old Nicholas Young, the tall masts of the exploratory ship Endeavour look like an answer to his fervent prayers. On the run from his demanding father and the cruel butcher who employed him, Nick finds adventure beyond his wildest imaginings when he stows away on the ship of legendary Captain James Cook. Once he is discovered and put to work, Nick becomes party to some amazing sights. He meets indigenous natives of Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia, wonders at the sight of kangaroos, and shudders with horror when confronted with cannibalism. Nick survives a hurricane, a near shipwreck on the Great Barrier Reef, and a deadly bout with typhoid to become one of the few original crew members to successfully circumnavigate the globe with Cook and arrive safely back in England. He notes in his worn journal shortly before sighting his homeland's shore: "We have truly led the way, charting the path for all who come after. I don't know I shall ever feel so again as I feel now. That any of us shall."

Newbery Medal-winning Karen Hesse's story is based on actual Endeavour stowaway Nicholas Young, about whom little is known. Using the real 1768 diaries of Captain Cook and shipboard naturalist Joseph Banks, Hesse has changed Young from a forgotten footnote into a living, breathing person with red hair and a penchant for pork chops. So authentic you can feel the sea spray, this fine fictionalized diary is a nautical treasure for landlubbers young and old. (Ages 10 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

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Just Juice (Scholastic Signature)

Description

Letters and numbers don't make any sense to Juice Faulstich. She'd rather skip school and help her father in his workshop. But when the bank threatens to repossess her family's home, Juice faces her first life-size problem and is determined to find a way out.

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Newbery Medal-winning novelist Karen Hesse--known for her painterly ability to re-create historical worlds for young readers--turns her attention this time to a contemporary family that lives as if in another era. The engrossing, eight-member Faulstich family, residents of an Appalachian hill village perhaps in Kentucky or West Virginia, has learned to endure impoverished conditions ever since Pa got laid off from the mine. Only the children are guaranteed a "sandwich" each day (bread spread so thin with jelly "you can hardly find the purple"); there are no regular doctor or dentist visits, even for Ma, who is carrying another baby; and the only surprise presents at Christmas are the ones the older girls make at school.

Smack in the middle of this brood is the narrator, 9-year-old Juice Faulstich, a sweet, resilient tomboy who likes to explore and learn. She gets along well with her big and little sisters, has talent as an apprentice metalworker in her Pa's makeshift shop, and forgets every worry when she's dancing to fiddle music. She's so capable, in fact, she's the family member all the little ones look up to the most. Yet it turns out that the highly skilled Juice, who can handle everything from power tools to her Pa's depression ("We all look out for him. But I look out for him best, even Ma says so") is plagued by an inability to understand letters and reading. "No one believes me. No one believes how hard I try. No matter what I do, it's never enough," she explains.

With wonderfully gentle narrative pacing, Just Juice weaves together a compelling plot that involves Juice's learning challenges, Ma's suddenly difficult pregnancy, and a pending foreclosure on the family house due to unpaid taxes. It may sound bleak, yet in Hesse's able hands the Faulstich clan remains hopeful, creative, and kind with one another throughout--almost even more so when things seem the darkest. This fine book abounds with memorable and true images of family love, personal perseverance, and unexpected, effervescent breakthroughs. (Ages 8 and older) --Jean Lenihan

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