At first, Out of the Dust looks like one of those titles that are blindingly obvious. Of course Billie Jo wants out of the dust—it's destroying her life. Her dad is losing his mind, her neighbors and friends are getting out while the getting's good, and she's just stuck there watching life gradually blow away. To say that life is unfair is a major understatement.
There's more to the title than this, though. When Billie Jo speaks of wanting "out of the dust" (98.3), she's not just talking about getting away from the actual piles of dust that fill her family's home, the town store, and the school—she wants out of the heartache that's piled up as well.
After Ma and the baby die, Billie Jo doesn't really handle life very well, instead climbing into her grief and curling up in it for a while. While she'll occasionally try to venture back out into life, like when she enters the talent competition, she inevitably finds it too emotionally or physically painful. Even fulfilling her dream of getting away from home doesn't satisfy her—in fact, it's what makes her realize that she can't keep doing this to herself. She decides to start using her hands again, talking things out with her dad, and getting past the pain of Ma's death.
Here's the awesome thing about the title, though: It doesn't just apply to Billie Jo—the story is packed with redemptive stories of characters finding their way out of hardship.
It takes literally staring death in the face in the form of cancer and staring down his pride, but Daddy finds peace and clarity too, even trying new farming techniques and getting together with Louise. And Mad Dog reaches his breaking point and decides to go after his dream of being a professional musician, while Joe De La Flor refuses to be daunted by the death of his cattle and keeps on keeping on. As a result, Out of the Dust refers to the perseverance and hope you have to hang onto in order to dust yourself off (yeah, we went there) and move on with life.