this boook was a good book. ( )

Angelou poetically recounts her earliest and most formative years spent with her grandmother in Arkansas. The powerful lessons she learned there would later help her deal with tragedy and an unwanted pregnancy while living in California. ( )

I could hear her voice as I read her book. There is a musical quality to the words even when they describe pain or hardship. ( )

Maya has been able to explain a little about life in the south, and a few other places, for black kids/teenagers during the 30's and 40's. She does this simply by telling of her own experiences and those of her family - the benefit of a glimpse into a different time and place is simply a byproduct of her life story.

Even putting aside the racial issues that are evident in her youth, Maya has beautifully strung together almost 15 years of her life and told a story of the love between family (touching on many different family relationships including estranged parents), and the struggles all young people go through as they grow into adults.

A particularly funny scene for me was when Maya was able to commandeer a standard car reasonably successfully with no experience.

Recommended. ( )

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was not what I was expecting. It was interesting, but did not hold my attention like I thought it would.
This is Maya Angelou’s autobiography and it follows her as a young black girl growing up in the Deep South. The book started out slow but picked up towards the middle. Being that I am a young dark-skinned girl I could especially relate to Mrs. Angelou. She discusses feeling that she is not as pretty as the light skinned girls, or that her hair isn’t as straight. I have felt all of this at one point.
The book describes life in the south for blacks during the 1950s and 1960s, this seems like a common and often time overused topic in literature, but I like the view Mrs. Angelou took. She didn’t just focus on how she was mistreated because of her skin color, but she gives the reader a lot of background information, for example what her family life was like. She talked about what it was like to grow up with her grandmother, brother, and uncle. I enjoyed the personality she gave to each of her characters, this helped me to better relate to the story as a whole.
Although I feel like I could relate to the story, I feel that Mrs. Angelou never introduces a concrete plot. Instead she jumps around and discusses different topics. First she talks about her insecurities about her skin color, then her relationship with her mother, then the school she goes to. This caused me to get a little confused a different part of the books. Now as I reflect back, I realize that since it’s a autobiography about her life, it’s not something that will necessarily all make sense to the reader.
I think the overall theme of this book was perseverance. Mrs. Angleou is a great role model, one that young girls, like myself, can look up to and admire. She fearlessly tells her story and doesn’t try to make her life look easier than it was. At times there were some touchy subjects discussed but she plunges through them and really lets her readers know that where you come from doesn’t define you, you define yourself. Mrs. Angelou endured so much at a young age and I admire her for her courage and strength as both an African American and as a woman. ( )