Out of the Dust

Karen Hesse was born on August 29th in Baltimore, Maryland. When she was young, a librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library supplied her with books. Later, Karen would work in libraries. She has also been a nanny, a secretary, a typesetter, and a proofreader.Karen graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in English and minors in psychology and anthropology.

Her first book, Wish on a Unicorn, was published in 1991. Known for her historical fiction, Karen’s characters range from Mila, the girl raised by dolphins, to Nicholas Young, a stowaway on Captain Cook’s ship. She immerses herself in her research by studying relevant artwork, music, literature, and photographs. Most projects require the reading of thousands of pages of bound books and miles of microfilm.

In 1998, Karen’s novel Out of the Dust won the Newbery Medal. Told in free verse from Billie Jo’s point of view, it is a work of historical fiction about the Dust Bowl. “I write a story and see everything in my head, running almost as a movie,” she says.