Author
Joyce Hansen
3 books here
The Captive
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · 760L
A historically grounded, unflinching introduction to slavery for middle graders; the dual timeline and Kofi's voice make it emotionally resonant rather than didactic.
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · 720L · 2011
Sparse, honest, and quietly devastating—Hansen lets Patsy's voice and choices carry the weight of Reconstruction and emancipation without didacticism, making the era humanly real in a way textbooks cannot.
Which Way Freedom
Middle grade · ages 9–12 · 780L · 1999
A genuinely unsentimental Civil War novel that treats Obi's internal struggle—identity, belonging, choice—as seriously as the historical backdrop; the voice is unflinching without being bleak.