Out of the Dust

by Karen Hesse

Published 1 October 1997
In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.

The Music of Dolphins

by Karen Hesse

Published 1 January 1920
A stunning novel about a 'wild girl' who is discovered swimming with the dolphins, and the story of people's attempts to make her truly human. Mila creates headlines around the world when she is rescued from an unpopulated island off the coast of Florida. Now a teenager, she has been raised by dolphins from the age of four. Researchers teach Mila language and music. She learns, too, about rules and expectations, about locked doors and broken promises, disappointment and betrayal. The more Mila finds out what it means to be human, the more deeply she longs for her island home. With a highly original narrative style to mirror its plot, this is an unusual, moving and appealing story which stays in the mind long after it is read.