Out of the Dust

Title: Out of the Dust

Author: Karen Hesse

Publishing information: Scholastic inc

Number of pages: 227

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Summary: This is a story about a girl that loves her mother and baby brother and has to learn to live with her dad and live with her life in the dust. When her mother died she tried to save her but she just damaged her hands and is not able to play the piano any more. This is a depressing moment for her and she is having a hard time dealing with it. She tries to continue to play but it hurt to much. She tried to run away but just ended up going back home to her dad. Her father started dating and she was at first not ok with it but she learned to accept it and enjoy it.

Reaction: This was a different type of book that I have ever read. It was in poem form which was different for me. I enjoyed it though. I liked that way the poem continued with the story and the writing had a real flow to it.

Problems: This was a depressing book. It dealt with a lot of loss. It would be hard to read if the reader was younger and did not know how to handle the feelings.

Recommendation: To those who have lost some one. This is a story about a girl that had hit rock bottom and just picked her self back up. This would be good to read if you were going through the same thing to know that people can help each other.