Rating: 
Summary: My favorite - but they're all favorites!
Review: Thank you, Maya, for being there! I remember when I first saw Maya Angelou on some TV show - probably Oprah. I thought she was just too uppity for her own good - so full of herself. Then I read her books and found out why she acted that way: because she's FABULOUS and she KNOWS IT! This book in particular is so enlightening, so amusing, so full of surprising "takes" on the African scene. I whipped through it. Then I was hungry for every other book, including Ms. Angelou's poetry, and I just took it all in. As a writer she has inspired me to tell my own stories, freely, without inhibition, all the way. As a woman she has given me that extra little "oomph" of self esteem I didn't get from my own mother and the "feminine mystique" women who were my role models growing up. Ms. Angelou has worked at every kind of job, and she has valued herself in each and every one of them. She has never been "less" of a woman or a creative genius because she was doing this thing or that. They say that Georgia O'Keefe was the "mother of all contemporary women artists" I say that Maya Angelou is the "mother of all contemporary women poets and writers." Phenomenal woman.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent description of minority expatriate experience
Review: This book is very insightful both for American blacks, Jewish Zionists and others with strong national connections to other countries. Angelou struggles with her identity as a black returning to the motherland only to find that there she is no less and perhaps more American than black. Thought provoking and enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, enlightening, confirming
Review: This is a wonderfully written book. Lyrically descriptive. I was captivated from the first sentence. It's probably the best first sentence I've read in some time.This book was very meaningful for me. I read this book after making a recent trip to Ghana (my first trip to Africa). At first I wished that I'd had it available before the trip. But now I know that it was more important for me to read it after my trip. Reading this book helped me process my feelings about my experiences in Ghana. I went there on one level, like Ms. Angelou, looking for a sense of belonging, a feeling of home. While my experiences there were very positive, like her I realized that I belong here in America. Despite the feelings of alienation and outsiderness, for good or ill, this is home. I am both indelibly linked to/related to, but separate from Africa. "Traveling Shoes" helped me realize this.
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Summary: Maya's Memoirs are Extraordinary
Review: When I was university student we often heard the phrase 'the personal is political'. Sometimes I have felt that to point out the political connections of my personal experience is boring, obvious, and tedious for other people. Now I see how wrong I was. What is obvious to some is unknown to others and I commend Maya Angelou for leading a life full of courage and having the gumption to write it all down so eloquently. She captures the small moments in life yet never lets you forget the social structures of race, gender, and class that shape and sometimes limit our lives. Congratulations Maya.
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Summary: Maya Angelou's All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
Review: With great detail, Maya Angelou describes the journeys of her life with her son. She shares her emotions with such strong words you feel like you are right there with her as she is telling her tale. From sorrow, to pity, to happiness, and all the way back through again, Maya Angelou tells a story of hope and dignity...how she survived life with a little faith in god and in family.
I recommend this to book to anyone who is in need of a little hope or needs to get in touch with their inner self. This book is touching and uplifting. Give it a try, I know you'll love it as much as me, if not more!
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