Losing someone you love can be hard. In the novel, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, the main character, Billie Jo, lives motherless through the tragic Dust Bowl. Billie Jo’s responses to hardship contributed to her transformation. Two hardships Billie Jo responded to include her mother passing and her dad drinking. One hardship Billie Jo faced was her ma passing, and that hardship then lead to her avoiding the piano. The cause in the text states, “Ma died that day giving birth to my brother,” (69). Billie Jo feels blamed for her mother’s death. This shows Billie’s feelings in which she believes it was her fault. The effect in the text states, “It’s hard to believe I once brought money in too, even if it was just a dime now and then, for playing