I know why the bird in the cage sings

Author: Maya Angelou, Yang Yu Gong, Chen Yan Jun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-09-01
Features: "A bird in a cage can't see through the angry bars / Its wings are broken, its feet are tied / It can only open its throat and sing loudly." Breaking free from the double cage of race and gender, Maya Angelou, this brave Amazonian woman warrior, sang songs of her struggle against adversity. This book is Maya Angelou's most famous autobiographical novel. The story begins when "I" was four years old and was sent to the grandmother's house in the south, like a package, by my divorced parents, and ends when "I" was sixteen years old, having become an unwed mother after becoming pregnant with another man's child. It is a typical coming-of-age novel for Black women, containing all the necessary elements of "discovery" (the unknown) and "confirmation" (the known). The author's poetic touch and soaring passion flood the entire book. Listen, listen to the song of this strong, black-feathered bird of hope.