Maya Angelou

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-A well-written overview of the life of African-American writer Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Johnson. She grew up during the Depression in the segregated south, a good student who loved the work of Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Langston Hughes, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Without going into detail, King relates that Angelou was sexually abused at the age of eight and so affected by the event and subsequent trial that she refused to talk for about a year. She became a single mother at 17, and was later married for a few years to a Greek sailor. Details of her writing career and civil rights activities round out this informative biography, concluding with her poem ``On the pulse of the morning,'' written for President Clinton's inauguration. Black-and-white photographs show the environment and people that nurtured Angelou, as well as the writer herself. A useful source for reports as well as a good read.-Eunice Weech, M.L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL