I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780812980028)

Maya Angelou's debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS's American Masters.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou's debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother's side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age--and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity."--James Baldwin

Author: Maya Angelou
ISBN-10: 0812980026
ISBN-13: 9780812980028
Publisher: Random House Trade
Language: English
Published: 04/21/2009
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.22h x 5.74w x 0.80d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.7
Point Value: 13
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 8660 / I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings


Review Citation(s):
People Weekly 06/16/2014 pg. 36
Entertainment Weekly 06/13/2014 pg. 27
Ebony 08/01/2014 pg. 30
School Library Journal 04/12/2024 pg. 1