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Summary: I know why the caged bird sings
Review: I wonder if this book credits poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar who wrote the poem titled "Sympathy" which contains the phrase "I know why the caged bird sings". For those who have not read the poem that Maya Angelou refers to I would highly recommend it.
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Summary: Parents Beware
Review: Although the writing in this book is wonderful, parents of high school students need to be aware that Ms. Angelou is raped at age 8 and has very graphically described it. .... That's why I'm writing, so you will know that despite the good there is in this book, it is certainly for a mature audience.
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Summary: An Experience
Review: I've never been so moved by a book. But Mayas description of her grade school graduation in Arkansa in 1940 is so well and eloquently recounted and is to me the most moving chapter in the book; for it marks a turning point which also brings about an appreciation of the suffering of her race. The Black Pride Movement (If there is still one)can draw inspiration from this book.
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Summary: Maya's Eyes
Review: This book is incredible! It represents a part of the author's life that she feels is her growing process. Maya Angelou, a tenderhearted, merciful, insecure black girl in a white world, explains her daily struggles and lessons that she must go through. The part that held my attention the most would have to be when Maya was raped. After moving to St. Louis with her mother, Maya and her brother, Bailey Jr., were in heaven. They couldn't be happier. Maya's mother was dating a man by the name of Mr. Freeman. During those times everyone had to help out, so Mr. Freeman watched the children during the day while their mother was at work. When no one else was around, Mr. Freeman started sexually abusing Maya. At first she didn't know what to think. She just thought it was a way to show his love. Eventually, after she was raped, she figured out that what Mr. Freeman was doing was not right. Because Maya liked it the first time, thinking it was his sign of affection, she felt guilty and believed it to be her fault. This was the cause of many of her social problems later in life. Many people can relate to the various situations she endures, and if they cannot, they still feel a sort of bond. From this book an involved reader could learn about life conscious topics they perhaps did not know before, such as racism, rape, blending families, a dysfunctional home, etc. The readers have a clear view of the world through Maya's eyes. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about life.
Rating: 
Summary: change and growth is good
Review: After reading this novel, I have decided that Maya is a very strong person, and she has made me realize that all of life is just passing time. Everyone goes through various stages, and the older a person lives to be, the more they have to look foward too. Maya also reminded me to motivate myself. Her strong character is well represented by the end of this book, and today she is widely recognized as an important figure to black womanhood. I recommend for everyone to read it, just for the experience, cause living life is about experiencing things.
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Summary: Maya- a woman of change
Review: This classical story depicts Maya throughout her youth, and it shows how tough it was for a black girl to grow up in the South. By reading this novel, I developed a tremendous respect for Angelou's work, and she has involuntarily encouraged me to keep trying to learn more about myself and the world.
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Summary: my review on the caged bird.
Review: this is a review on "why the caged bird sings." Ritie and bailey's parent's marriage ends. two of them moves to Stamps to live with their grandmother. Stamps is a deep southern town where segregation is deeply effected. Ritie, the main character goes through rape, racism and her own conflicts during her childhood. her grandmother Mrs. Henderson helps her through with her unique faith and endless love. she grows up to a be one , faithful and intelligent women that leads the herats of all black men and women
Rating:
Summary: not for kids, but worthwhile
Review: First let me say that I liked this book much better than I expected to. Angelou's prose, as one would expect, is often poetic and she looks back at her early life with little of the anger and hatred which so marred Richard Wright's Black Boy (see Orrin's review). That said, let me also say that I agree with the school boards that have banned the book from libraries and classrooms. The scenes where, as a child, she is sexually accosted by one of her mother's friends are too disturbing for young readers; heck, it was too disturbing for me. But more importantly, the book ends with her triumphantly getting herself with child, though still a teen. I can think of no message more inappropriate for young readers. Let them wait and read the book in a couple years, it will still be around and they will have developed a fuller and more appropriate personal context in which to judge it. GRADE: B
Rating:
Summary: I know why the caged bird sings.
Review: I highly recommend this book! This book gave a good perspective of what'd itod be like as an African American girl. Maya wrote from the heart and it showed in her work! Her life story was fun reading about b/c it was real, exciting and original!
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Summary: An Impressive Account of a Black Woman's Childhood
Review: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Maya Angelou's first of her series of autobiographies. In Angelou's book she includes a myriad of experiences from her childhood which have affected her life positively and negatively. These experiences are derived from racial issues of the south to her inconsistent family life. George E. Kent states, "The book is rich in portraits of a wide assortment of blacks, descriptions of the rhythms of their lives, and evocations of the patterns of the different environment." Through these descriptions Angelou amazingly gives the point of view of a young, developing child. Through the insights of a child the reader is able to connect with the author's life on a more personal level. Kent also states that "...she has employed what has become a rather personalized style..." I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an account of Angelou's childhood. The story begins when three year old Marguerite Johnson (Maya Angelou) and her four year old brother, Bailey, are sent away by her divorcing parents to live with their paternal Grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. This move is only the beginning of an inconsistent childhood. Grandmother Henderson represents strict religious traditions in a poor black community in the racist south. Angelou generalizes the children's situation as follows: "Years alter I discovered that the United States had been crossed thousands of times by frightened Black children traveling alone to their newly affluent parents in Northern cities, or back to grandmothers in Southern towns...." To continue the inconsistency at the age of eight, during the return to her mother, she endures rape by her Mother's lover. As a result of this, Marguerite stops speaking on her return to Stamps. The duration of Angelou's life she must overcome many barriers in order to find herself. In this search for herself, Angelou questions her sexuality. As a result of this confusion she embarks in a meaningless sexual encounter. This encounter will affect the rest of her life. Maya Angelou's childhood proves to be very significant. She is able to give the readers a balanced feeling and understanding of a black child during this time and the inconsistencies in which she endures. A black child's life is described by Kent as follows, " In this fast life area of black tradition, the children receive great kindness and considerable impact from built-in instabilities." One specific inconsistency is a role of a mother figure in her childhood. This situation relates to racial conflict and is described through a certain quote from the book. "She questions whether she loves her children enough-or more terribly, does she love them too much?... In the face of these contradictions, she must provide a blanket of stability, which warms but does not suffocate, and she must tell her children the truth about the power of white power without suggesting that it cannot be challenged."(p.123-24) Although the introduction of this book tends to be slow at times, Angelou successfully connects her readers into her account of her childhood and through her encounters with various people and situations she expresses what has helped mold her into who she is today. Overall, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an explicit and honest look into a black child's life. Maya Angelou's account of her childhood attracted me from the beginning to the end. I enjoyed reading about all of her experiences and even learned from some of them as I read. Such as, "that life loved the person who dared to live it." (p.129) Also Vivian Baxter's ( Angelou's mother) motto on life "hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between."(p.288) Maya Angelou hit a personal note for me and many other Americans. This autobiographical attempt is very much a success.
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