Growing up in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, Billy Jo must cope with life-threatening weather and personal disasters. She shares the blame for her mother's tragic death with her father. Though her father chose the comfort of alcohol over the wishes of his dying wife, he is somehow not held responsible for the accident in the eyes of the townspeople. Billy Jo is. Meanwhile, her hands are permanently scarred, damaging her ability to play the piano. This Newbery Award-winning novel, composed entirely in free-verse poetry, demonstrates that hope is always present, even in the darkest of circumstances.