Joyce Hansen

Twelve-year-old Patsy keeps a diary of the ripe but confusing time following the end of the Civil War and the granting of freedom to former slaves.

The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly

Twelve-year-old Patsy keeps a diary of the rich but confusing time following the end of the Civil War and the granting of freedom to former slaves.

Offers a collection of six tales about six royal women of Africa from different periods in history, including a princess struggling to survive during the rise of the slave trade and a royal woman dealing with issues in the ancient world in 1473 B.C.

The Amazing Lives of Africa's Royal Women

African Princess

Celebrating a special event for his people, Kofi, the prince of a West African village, is horrified when he is betrayed, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in Massachusetts, in a story based on an actual slave narrative. Reprint.

The Captive

The son of an Ashanti chief is taken from his home in Africa to a New England farm in America and after much hardship, meets the man who influences his future destiny.

Biographies in words and pictures of 6 royal women from different periods of African history: Hatshepsut (ancient Egypt), Amina of Zaria (16th-century Nigeria), Njinga of Matamba (17th-century West Central Africa), Tata Ajaché of Dahoney (19th-century), Taytu Betul of Ethiopia (19th-20th century) and Elizabeth of Toro (20th-century Uganda).

Living in the past . . . When Obi left South Carolina, he was a runaway slave. Five years later, in 1866, he has returned as a freed man and a Union Army officer, determined to find the only family he has ever known: his beloved Easter and Jason, the young boy they looked after on the plantation. Obi makes his way to New Canaan, a settlement of former slaves, where he learns that Easter is studying in the North. Obi wastes no time in writing to Easter, professing his love and proposing marriage. But it doesn't take long before the two realize that they have changed and have different dreams. Is their love still strong enough to begin a new life together? Or are they just living in the past?

The Heart Calls Home

Obi had never forgotten the sounds of his mother's screams on the day he was sold away from her. Making plans to run away to find her was a secret game he played with friend Buka, an old African who lived at the edge of the farm. When the Civil War began, Obi knew it was time to run -- or be sold again. If he was caught, he'd be killed...or worse. But if he stayed, he might never know freedom.

Which Way Freedom

Now that she is turning thirteen, Maria Peterson envisions new adult prestige and responsibility, like attending abolitionist meetings and listening to inspiring speakers such as Sojourner Truth. The year also brings trials and tribulations for her family and friends, however. The City of New York wants to turn her community's settlement into a park. Now that Maria has made a new friend, she's even more determined to stay put.

Home Is with Our Family

After their daring run for freedom, Obi and Easter were separated in the confusion of the Civil War. But now that the war is over and the slaves are free, Easter sets out to find her old friend and take control of her life, in the powerful sequel to the Coretta Scott King Honor Book WHICH WAY FREEDOM?

Out From This Place

Joyce Hansen's Coretta Scott King Honor Book I THOUGHT MY SOUL WOULD RISE AND FLY is now back in print with a gorgeous new package! Patsy, an orphaned slave with a bad leg and a quiet nature, is considered slow by the Davis family. But Patsy's smart -- smart enough to learn to read and write on the sly. After the Civil War ends and slavery is abolished, Patsy believes Master Davis's promise to pay the former house slaves and to educate the slave children. But when the master ignores his promise to establish a school and the Freedmen's Bureau cannot provide a teacher, Patsy steps in to teach the students to read and write. Patsy's diary is filled with courage, conviction, and hope as she strives toward her freedom.

Dear America: I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly

Fourteen-year-old orphan Amir, living in Syracuse, exchanges letters with his friend Doris, still living in their old Bronx neighborhood, in which they share their lives and give each other advice on friendship, family, foster care, and making decisions.

One True Friend

Joyce McGowan Hansen

Gary McGowan

Describes the discovery and study of the African burial site found in Manhattan in 1991, while excavating for a new building, and what it reveals about the lives of black people in Colonial times.

The Story of New York's African Burial Ground

Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence

Fourteen-year-old orphan Amir, living in Syracuse, exchanges letters with his friend Doris, still living in their old Bronx neighborhood, in which they share their lives and give each other advice.

Documents the recruitment, training, and struggles of African American soldiers during the Civil War and examines the campaigns in which they participated.

Black Soldiers in the Civil War

Between Two Fires

Amir has finally landed in a good place. His new foster parents, the Smiths, are loving and kind, and he has been reunited with his youngest brother, whom the Smiths have raised since babyhood. Amir knows he should be happy, but he is uncomfortable around the Smiths, and his little brother doesn’t even remember him. If only Amir could find the rest of the siblings he was separated from when his parents died, perhaps he would feel more at ease. Luckily, he has someone he can open his heart to—his friend Doris, who lives in his old Bronx neighborhood. The two of them share all their feelings and concerns in frequent letters. But when Doris writes Amir that a friend has been experimenting with drugs, unpleasant memories rise to the surface of his mind. In this long-awaited companion to The Gift-Giver and Yellow Bird and Me, Amir not only must find a way to come to terms with his family’s past, but he must also determine where his true home is.

Ten-year-old Doris's gradual friendship with the new boy in her inner-city neighborhood, Amir, brings her into a closer understanding with her family even though it divides her from her old friends.

The Gift-Giver

Doris becomes friends with Yellow Bird as she helps him with his studies and his part in the school play and discovers that he has a problem known as dyslexia.

Joyce Hansen

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