I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina 1865 (Dear America Series) - Hardcover

Book 41 of 56: Dear America

Hansen, Joyce

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9780590849135: I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina 1865 (Dear America Series)

Synopsis

The Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author presents the inspiring story of Patsy, a freed slave girl who rises from her difficult childhood to become a great teacher.

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From AudioFile

The life of a black girl during the period of Reconstruction is depicted through the thoughts, fears, and observations recorded by Patsy in her secret diary. From the giggles of her high spirits to her softer tones when she mentions the man she has a crush on to her sadness and fear as so many of her "family" leave the plantation, Sisi Johnson perfectly nuances Patsy's hidden emotional life and mirrors her day-to-day existence as the world she knows falls apart all around her. Hope and excitement build, and are dashed, as so many of the promises that are made during Reconstruction are never brought to fruition. What, Patsy wonders, does freedom mean in a South left shattered by the Civil War? W.L.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Joyce Hansens Coretta Scott King Honor book (Scholastic, 1997) is set in South Carolina in 1865 just after the Civil War. Lame, shy, and afflicted with a stammer, 12-year-old Patsy hides her ability to read and write–recording her thoughts and observations secretly in a journal. Her diary, written during her first year of freedom, expresses both her tremulous path towards personal selfhood (typical of all 12 year olds) as well as the growing political awareness, courage, and self-determination of the community of freed slaves. Through reading to others and teaching the freed plantation children their letters, Patsy begins to lose her stammer and discover her vocation. SiSi Johnsons reading of the diary perfectly captures the young girls voice and the cadences of post-Civil War South Carolina. Barbara Rosen reads the books epilogue and historical notes. Listeners will want to have the book at hand to view photographs, drawings, and maps that detail and illuminate the era. This well done audiobook has enough suspense to hold the attention of preteens while providing an enriching experience for students studying the Reconstruction period.–Emily Herman, Mary Lin Elementary School, Atlanta, GA
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