I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969
autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet
Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a
coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome
racism and
trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to
Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of
Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an
inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice.