Title - Out of the Dust Author: Hesse, Karen Publisher: Scholastic Print Synopsis Authors Purpose Genre This gripping story is the compelling tale of Billie Jo's struggle to survive during the dust bowl years of the Depression. With stoic courage, she learns to cope with the loss of her mother and her grieving father's slow deterioration. Entertain Historical Fiction RDQ (Reading Difficulty Quotient) Accelerated Reader Lexile Find at 3360 7+ 1100 RDQ based on a maximum of 3000 words Levels are suggested levels based on RDQ, not official levels Sentences Total Words Different Words Max Word/Sent 67 Total # of Words 2634 # of Different Words 895 Ave Word/.Sent 13 Hi Freq occurs 1865 70.8% # of Hi freq words 387 43.2% % of Long Sentences 20.6 Low Freq occurs 171 6.5% # of Low freq words 132 14.7% Subjective Criteria Illustrations: No support Unconventional format Dialog: Two speakers Dialog: Broken dialogue Vocabulary: Some difficult words Sentences: Difficult Text structure: Difficult Inferences: Required Complexity: Several unrelated ideas Concepts: Abstract/Difficult Prior Knowledge: Familiarity Sequence of Events: Mostly chronological Features Simple Plot Mood/tone First Person Unconventional punctuation Dialect/Accents Metaphors Similes Topics *Weather Environment Accidents Money Gardens/Gardening *Family & Friends *Music Parents Low Frequency Words aisles amarillo annoy apiece arley bawling biscuits bounty brewing buttery charging cheekbones clubbing collected committee crouched cured daddy'll debts delano determined distracted drought earliest emptied exposing eyed feuding fidgety fingerwork floyd fondness foul foundation freeland gathering glare glared handling hardly's hillary hipped hollered honestly hoping hunger january jealous kelby killian killians knives legged lemonade liberal lubbock maggoty mattress meantime mesa milking nightie noble noble's oilcloth ought overpayment packet panhandle parlor peppered peppermint perform permission pestering pledged plowboy plugger population pregnant president president's rattler redheaded rehearsals restless reuben revenge reviews rhythms riled romney rotting roughs sacking satisfied sauce schoolhouse schooling scowl scowling secondhand semester separately seventy sewn should've shoveling sizzling skinned slants solo spindled squinted stirring stock sturgis sunnyside supremely suspected sweater swept testy theatre tongues truly wagering wanderdale wanderdale's weeknights wheat's whittled