I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

"Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and that the ideas of great authors will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned."

Maya Angelou ends her story of her youth with the birth of her son and that is a fitting ending for with a child comes an adult's responsibilities; although, she was only a teenager when she had him and had only had one very hasty and unsatisfying, almost impersonal, sexual experience to gain that son. It feels a bit abrupt when you are reading it, I had a son, the end.

She had a disjointed upbringing with much movement between households, all over the country, ending up in San Francisco, by way of the deep South and other states along the way. Her mother and father divorced early and her first memories are of her father's mother who raised her. She and her brother, Bailey were then moved to St. Louis to her mother's house, where she lived with her mother, brother and a Mr. Freeman. Since her mother was out working a lot, Mr. Freeman sexually assaulted her and eventually raped her. She was 8. Little girls and boys left alone with "boyfriends" often suffer this way. In this case she did eventually tell on him and there was a trial and he was found guilty, but only served one day in jail. He was found dead in a parking lot shortly after. Angelou strongly suspects that her uncles killed him. There are few hints that her mothers family had strong underground ties. 

Maya from then on loses her voice, both literally and figuratively, and doesn't speak for years. She says it's because her speaking made a man lose his life, but maybe part of the reason was because she was traumatized and angry and she knew her relatives resented her for becoming a different child afterwards, sullen and sad, and they expected her to get over it and move on. Her silence was the answer to that.

This is a moving memoir and very dark and she does move on, because she has to or give up. This story is told with a matter of factness that only comes from acceptance. Maya Angelou doesn't ask for pity or help, it is only a relaying of a life story, both unusual and frighteningly  common. 

Age Rating 14+. Mature themes.