May 2009
On Sale: April 21, 2009
304 pages ISBN: 0345514408 EAN: 9780345514400 Kindle: B0026LTNFO Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint) Add to Wish List
Here is a book as joyous and painful, and 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 first memoir, published in 1969
is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Sent
by their mother to 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.” When she journeys at eight to her
mother’s side in St. Louis, she is attacked by a man many
times her age. Years later, in San Francisco, she learns
about love for herself–and has to live with the consequences
for a lifetime. The kindness of others, Maya’s 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 as long as people read.