I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
Book no.	7
Series	Dear America
Author	Joyce Hansen
Publisher	Scholastic
Published	October 1, 1997
Pages	208
ISBN	9780590849135
Setting	Mars Bluff, South Carolina
Timeline	April 1865 – January 1866
Preceded by
Chronology	The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow
Publication	So Far from Home
Followed by
Chronology	The Great Railroad Race
Publication	West to a Land of Plenty

“	Friend, if I was a brave girl, I'd have asked that Yankee whether I would be punished if I limped on upstairs to Master's library and started reading and writing. Master never did say we was free, but I guess we are. I can't wait until we get a school. I'll be the first pupil there.	”
—Patsy

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl is a fictional diary by Joyce Hansen; her only book for the series. It was the seventh book in Scholastic's Dear America. The book was published in October 1997 and republished in July 2011 with new cover art. It was followed by West to a Land of Plenty by Jim Murphy.

The book follows Patsy, a newly freed girl, as she discovers her passion for teaching during the Reconstruction era.

Dedication

"For my dear nieces, Lisa, Tracy, Coughangela, April, and Megan. And my favorite nephew, Austin, III."

Book description

• Original
• Relaunch

"Sunday, August 20, 1865
Dear Friend,
The children were so happy to see me this morning. They ran over when I reached the arbor. I felt as though my soul would rise and fly, as our song says.
We walked together to the spinning house. I will call it a schoolroom—even though it's not a real schoolroom, and I am not a real teacher. I gave each older child a paper with all of the letter, just he way Annie and Charles's teacher used to do....
One of the old women said to me, "You such a quiet little thing, but you sho' know how to teach them letters."
I surprised myself when I said thank you without stammering."

"My name is Patsy. This is my story....
Patsy, an orphaned slave, has taught herself to read and write on the sly. After the Civil War ends and slavery is abolished, Patsy believes her master will keep his word and pay the former house slaves and provide an education for the slave children. But when Master Davis ignores his promise to establish a school, and the Freedmen's Bureau can't send a teacher, Patsy steps in to teach the students, old and young, to read and write.
Patsy's diary is filled with courage, conviction, and hope as she strives toward freedom—freedom from slavery and freedom from the limitations placed on her by others."

Plot

In April 1865, orphaned Patsy is given a diary as a joke by Master Davis's niece and nephew who are going away. Unbeknownst to the pair, Patsy has secretly learned to read and write by watching their lessons. Everyone around Patsy underestimates her because of her stutter and her leg which is longer than the other. They treat her like a "dunce" who cannot speak for herself. Later, soldiers from the Freedmen's Bureau come to the Davis Hall Plantation. Master Davis agrees to pay the now free workers a part of the cotton crop. The house servants, excepting Patsy and Nancy, will receive a wage.

As the days go by, attitudes towards their former masters begin changing. Patsy, for her part, begins calling them Mister and Missus (or Sir and Ma'am). Many of the workers begin leaving, including some of Mister's and Missus's favorites. As Cook leaves, she says "If I stay in this house where I been a slave, I'll never know I'm free." Later, Patsy begins attending worship at the bush arbor with the others, instead of the white church with Mister and Missus. She enjoys the service there better, especially when Reverend McNeal comes to speak. He promises that there will be a school on the plantation soon.

With many of the house servants now gone, Patsy becomes closer to Ruth and her son Luke. Eventually, Patsy has the courage to reveal her secret to Ruth. She immediately begins teaching Ruth and Luke the alphabet. Patsy also teaches the other young children on Sundays and occasionally reads the newspaper to their older people at their Union League meetings. Meanwhile, everyone continues waiting for the teacher's arrival. However, when the appointed day arrives, they are sorely disappointed. However, when Patsy later makes a comment about teaching, Ruth instantly agrees that she is the perfect teacher.

In early September, Ruth's husband John returns for his wife and child. Several days later, Mister suddenly passes away from illness. Missus is forced to learn about running the plantation. Later, Patsy's friend Mister Joe begins working there as the cook. He often covers for her, allowing her to go teach the children. In December, he gives her a book from which she choses her name, Phillis Frederick, after Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass. The following January, when the crop comes in, Missus refuses to give or sell land to the workers whom then decide to leave. Patsy makes up her mind to go with them.

Characters

Main article: List of I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly characters

• Patsy, an orphan with a stutter who has secretly learned to read and write. After being granted her freedom, she begins teaching the other children and gains confidence.

Author

Main article: Joyce Hansen

Joyce Hansen is an award-winning American children's and young adult author whom primarily focuses on African-American history. Hansen was a teacher in New York City for twenty-two years, before retiring in 1995. I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly is the only contribution by Hansen to Dear America. Hansen got inspiration for Patsy's character while reading the diary of Emma Holmes, a real woman who lived in Charleston in 1865. Her description of a servant named Ann as "lame, solitary, very dull, slow, timid, and friendless" immediately struck Hansen, who began formulating questions such as "What if she were actually quite bright?"

Editions

• Physical
• eBook
• Audio

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
Dear America reprint
9780545280907
(July 2011)

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
Dear America eBook
B005ES45N6
(August 2011)

• Narrator: Janine Jackson
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Published: 1999
• No. of cassettes: 5
• ISBN: 0439062497
• Note: Published as a part of Scholastic's READ 180 program.

---

• Narrator: SiSi Johnson, Barbara Rosenblat
• Publisher: Live Oak Media
• Published: August 30, 2005
• Running time: 4 hours and 10 minutes
• No. of discs: 4
• ISBN: 9781595194763

Awards

• American Library Association, Coretta Scott King Award (1998) - Honor Award

Notes

• The portrait on the cover of the first edition is a detail from the 1879 painting La Négresse by Abigail May Alcott Nieriker. The background is a detail from the c. 1860 painting Plantation Burial by John Antrobus.
• Tim O'Brien illustrated the portrait on the cover of the 2011 reprint. The background is a reversed detail from Plantation Burial by John Antrobus.

See also

Dear America navigation
← Publication → So Far from Home West to a Land of Plenty ← Chronology → The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow The Great Railroad Race

External links

• I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly at Scholastic (archive)
• Interview With Joyce Hansen About I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly at Scholastic (archive)
• I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly Discussion Guide at Scholastic (archive)
• I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly at Teaching Books
• I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly on Wikipedia