I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

What it's about

When Maya Angelou was three, she and her older brother Bailey were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, a small, segregated town in Arkansas. This first volume of her memoirs follows her childhood there, a traumatic stay with her mother in St. Louis, when she was raped by her mother's boyfriend and stopped speaking for years, her move to San Francisco as a teenager, and the birth of her son at sixteen.

Why it's worth reading

It was a #1 New York Times bestseller and is one of the most influential memoirs in American literature. It's beautifully written, full of warmth and humor despite its pain.

You'll love it if you liked

Black Boy, The Color Purple or Educated

Good to know

It describes the rape of a child and racism. It's often taught in schools and has often been challenged.