In reading the first few chapters of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, I was not sure of the path the novel would take, but my friend who already read this book recommended it to me to read. In my friend recommending the book, I knew that it was a wonderful book. At first, I could not quite grasp on to the novel as a fan. I had to read the first three chapters three times in order to get into the book and enjoy it. Once I got further into the book, however, I found that I was starting to really like it.

This novel tells the story of what Maya Angelou had to go through from her early child hood to early adult hood. The story tells of how Maya (or Marguerite as she referred to herself as in the novel) endures the life of living in a segregated town. During her childhood her brother Bailey, her grandmother who she called Momma, and her uncle Willie, accompanied her. Marguerite and Bailey worked at their Mommas store every day and got an education as well. They were both so smart and they loved to read.

Maya continuously moved from household to household between her grandmother, father, and mother, as did bailey. Once Maya moved into her mother’s house when she was eight, she encountered rape by her mother’s boyfriend. Due to the tragedy, she shut herself off from everyone except for her brother. It took many years for Maya to open herself up to the world again. Once she opened up to the world, she became more confident in who she was and began a better life. She had gotten a job as the first black woman to conduct one of San Francisco’s cable cars. Maya, however, had to drop out of school for the position. Her life flourished from then on.

In reading this novel, I was able to see the points of views of an eight year old that went through tragedy. As her life began to take a downfall I got more into the book for I was curious as to which the problem would be resolved or take another turn. This book was a wonderful summer read and I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading about life stories.
I would only hope that they would enjoy it as much as I did.