Billie Jo is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Oklahoma during the dust bowl era. She lives with Ma and Daddy, and, so far, she is their only child. She has red hair like Daddy and long legs and freckles. She loves the piano. In this touching coming of age story, Billie Jo deals with hard times. First, there's the dust. In 1934 and 1935, the time frame of this novel, dust storms cover Oklahoma in a great cloud of despair. Drought, overgrazing and erosion make life here unbearable for Billie Jo. Then there's the fact that her best friend's family moves away to California. Throughout the book, people leave in one way or another, and Billie Jo wishes she were the one leaving.

The good news is that Ma is pregnant, and Billie Jo finds hope in the expectation of new life. The other good news is that...