The book, "Out of the Dust" was written by Karen Hesse in 1997, where the story is explored to take place on a farm in Oklahoma, during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years. The story literary expounds on one character, Billie Jo, who seem to undergo numerous challenges throughout her life before corning back to normal social life. During the birth of Billie Jo, her father expected a boy child, but rather Billie came out. She is described as a long-legged girl with a wide mouth and cheekbones like bicycle handles (Hesse 24). This description can indicate that Billie Jo was disliked from the time she was born. However, Billie is depicted to grow and become a good pianist. Her father's eager to have a boy came to reality when her mother became pregnant for a boy when Billie was fourteen. However, Billie's life changed drastically as a result of horrific fire accident that claimed the life of her mother and the unborn boy. The death caused tension and disparity between Billie and her father, making her to plan moving "out of the dust." Eventually, she came back to live with her father and forgave one another.

Literally, the phrase "Out of the Dust" does not mean a cloud of dust or the imagery of something suddenly busting from a cloud, but it means what Billie wants, never to return. Billie is explored to have been tired about the live she lives at Oklahoma farm, and she wants to leave the place not to return. The theme of family, the environment and loss and forgiveness are revealed to bind the phrase "Out of the Dust," since Billie is bonded to family and the environment, but loss and forgiveness tend to make her leave (Hesse 89). Hesse has used these themes throughout the novel to convey a message of power of the human spirit, which is used to endure and transcend the pain accompanying adversity and tragedy. The rain is a symbolism of transformation, as it is usually depicted that people shift when rain comes. Similarly, rain can also be used as a metaphor for hope in the novel. The dust in the novel can also be used as symbolism for Billie's challenges she faced. After Billie comes and settle with her father, it can be described as a period of calm and settling of the "dust."

It can be depicted that through the literary analysis of Karen Hesse's "Out of the Dust," that historical fiction is a literary genre, which presents the story in the past. Since the historical fiction captures the details of the time period, it can be depicted as a literature that accurately denotes time for authenticity, including such aspects like social norms, customs, manners, and traditions (Rousselot 14). According to Saxton, Laura, historical fiction takes place in the past, but characters, actions as well as other details are fictionalized to suit the creativity of the author (Saxton 132). Therefore, Hesse's "Out of the Dust" novel can be described as an historical fiction. Thus, I can argue that historical fiction is literature because it explores all the aspects of literature genre.