A Painted House
The Long Shadow of Little Rock

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right.

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 the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

More Adult Books

  • In Finding Margaret Fuller, the remarkable life of Margaret Fuller unfolds as she navigates the intellectual circles of 19th-century America, becoming a mentor to Louisa May Alcott and inspiring Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. As she breaks barriers—becoming the first woman allowed to study at Harvard and the first female foreign news correspondent—Fuller embarks on a journey filled with passion, revolution, and self-discovery, ultimately challenging the societal norms of her time.

    Read More about "Finding Margaret Fuller"...

  • Settle in with these Garfield Sunday funnies, handpicked and annotated by celebrated Garfield cartoonist Jim Davis.

  • When on May 15, 1918 a French lieutenant warned Henry Johnson of the 369th to move back because of a possible enemy raid, Johnson reportedly replied: “I’m an American, and I never retreat.”