LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Out of the Dust, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, Survival, and the Dust Bowl
Poverty, Charity, and Community
Coming of Age
Family and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
A few days later, another dust storm occurs, crushing what little hope the rain provided. Billie Jo hears about opportunities for boys in the Civilian Conservation Corps. She wishes she was a boy so she could get one of those jobs and get away from the Panhandle.
Again, the dust comes and smothers the few days of happiness men like Billie Jo’s father and Joe De La Flor got to experience. And again, Billie Jo is itching to get out of the Panhandle.