I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | 
| Author: Maya Angelou
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  305 reviews
Sales Rank: 3798
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0553279378
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.54092
EAN: 9780553279375
Publication Date: May 1, 1983
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Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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Amazon.com Review
In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California--where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever. Marvelously told, with Angelou's "gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant."
Product Description
A phenomenal #1 bestseller that has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three years, this memoir traces Maya Angelou's childhood in a small, rural community during the 1930s.Filled with images and recollections that point to the dignity and courage of black men and women,
Angelou paints a sometimes disquieting, but always affecting picture of the people--and the times--that touched her life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 300 more reviews...
 Charmed but Cautious September 28, 2008
This book provides well-written insight into growing up as a black child during the Depression. Maya Angelou is wonderful with her use of words and imagery. I was greatly reminded of my own childhood and what being a kid really meant. Written in first person, she addresses childhood fears, respect for adults and growing up with such tangible details that she could be her eight-year-old self again.
Angelou's insights into the African-American way of life and religion during a time of national change range from tender to comical. She speaks warmly of her love for her brother and her frustration with the young white girls. It is sweet to see the growing up process taking affect and the experiences of youth shaping her character.
I am somewhat relieved that we were not permitted to read this book back in my high school literature class where many parents were opposed to it. I fear it would have caught me off guard in many respects. Many of the sexual themes running throughout the book are quite heavy and discussed in detail. Both the subjects of rape and teen pregnancy are covered and sex in general is frequently alluded to.
Though I do perceive this as a lovely piece of literature, I would be cautious in offering it to teens and others who may be unprepared for its impact.
 Well Written Account September 19, 2008
This is another autobiography by Maya Angelou.
Here, she tells of the hardships she experienced in growin up: her parent's divorce, being sent to live with their grandmother in a small, Arkansas town and its racism, sexual abuse and more emotional scarring.
Eventually, Maya finds a father figure and when better things began to happen to her, she started to find her voice.
This is honest and gripping...
South Mill Young Readers Book Club Review (Jr. High Readers) May 30, 2008
We are the members of the South Mill Young Readers Book Club located in Conyers, Georgia. We are in the thirteen year old age bracket and thought it would be challenging to attempt to read and understand this story. As a result of our reading, we rate the book as follows:
Creativity - B+
Enjoyment - A+
Price - B+
We would recommend this book to others in our age group to read it.
Typed by Book Club Instructor: mwg
Recommended for teenage girls. May 22, 2008
I thought this book was an interesting read, however it was difficult to finish at times. What made me continue to finish the book was the beautiful way Maya Angelou writes. I found her story to be a bit dry and slow at times. However, her preserverance to become successful in life dispite her many obstacles kept me interested in this book. If I had not known how successful Maya Angelou's life turned out, I might not have finished the book. I was interested in knowing her journey. I recommend this book for teenage girls who are struggling with self-esteem issues and teen pregnancy because Maya Angelou's story can be used as a great encouragement to hang in there despite adversity.
 Umm... March 19, 2008
2 out of 11 found this review helpful
Definitely not what i thought when i was assigned to read this book by my professor. Maya Angelou definitely led an interesting life, but the way it was written makes her seem self- conscious and doubtful of hew own recollections, i personally did not like or understand it. i had to rely on sparknotes to guide me to the end of this most unique... book. i would not recommend it.
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