Out of the Dust Resources

The official website of documentary king Ken Burns's film The Dust Bowl comes complete with fascinating history, true stories of survivors, and an interactive game that lets you play the role of a Dust Bowl farmer (don't worry, running into a dust storm and coughing up mud is optional).

Think Karen Hesse might be a cool person to chill with? Find out at Hesse's personal blog, her open forum to talk about family life, writing, inspiration, and other topics.

Hesse describes the process of writing Out of the Dust and her experiences as a historical fiction author.

An overview of Karen Hesse's career as a children's author.

Wait… winning a major award for writing requires survival techniques? You bet it does. Karen Hesse talks with the Institute of Children's Literature about her experiences as a children's writer.

Meet Karen Hesse live and in the flesh—well, sort of. Okay, not really. But this clip where she talks with interviewer Tim Podell about her books Out of the Dust and Music of the Dolphins, as well as her research process, is still pretty cool.

Watch Billie Jo's diary entries come to life as fifth grader Tiffany Martinez performs selections from Out of the Dust as a monologue.

A pretty excellent student video project about the book.

The Library of Congress's collection of audio files documents the everyday life of migrant workers in California.

Oklahoma native Woody Guthrie is basically the father of American folk music and is famous for writing songs about the plights of regular, everyday people. Obviously the Dust Bowl gave him plenty of material, and "Do Re Mi" is his ode to migrant workers and their experiences as they hit the road for California.

In one of his radio "Fireside Chats," President Roosevelt speaks about the conditions of the Dust Bowl.

The original photograph by Walker Evans of a young girl during the Dust Bowl served as Karen Hesse's model for Billie Jo and appears on the book's cover.

It looks like they're on their way to a Star Wars-themed party, but these local women are really just trying to keep the dust out of their noses.

A migrant family's car is packed to the hilt for their own journey out of the dust.

Here's another Walker Evans photograph, this one depicting a farmer and his young daughter during the Dust Bowl.