Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

I enjoyed reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse very much and I can see why this novel won the Newbery Medal in 1998.

This novel is a work of historical fiction set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl era in the years 1934 & 1935. The story is told through the point of view of a girl named Billie Jo. 

My favorite part of this novel was that it was written entirely as a series of free verse poems and feels very much like reading someone's personal diary.