Why will Billie Jo and her dad be eating alone this year?

Billie Jo and her father will be eating alone this year because her mother and baby brother had died.

Explanation:

Karen Hesse's "Out of the Dust," tells the story of and narrated by the protagonist Billie Jo Kelby and her family's life during the Great Depression. The struggle amidst the poverty, the misfortune of the fire incident, and the desire for escape led Billie Jo to run away, but only to return home after she realized a newfound admiration and love for her distant and grieving father.

An incident at the house where her mother mistakenly used kerosene (thinking it was water) to make coffee for her husband led not only to her death but also kills the newborn baby. And because of this, Billie Jo and her father are left alone in the house, grieving but unable to do anything about it.  

the answer is somber

im not to sure