Maya Angelou (Baa) (Z) (Black Americans of Achievement) [Library Binding]

Miles Shapiro (Author), Nathan I. Huggins (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994 | Age Level: 11 and up | Series: Black Americans of Achievement

Discusses the life and work of the noted black writer.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-This well-written, detailed look at Angelou's life is not a sugar-coated biography. Using the writer's own words taken from interviews and her autobiographical works, Shapiro shows the pain and disillusionment that helped to shape this courageous and talented woman. Angelou overcame poverty, racism, a dysfunctional family, rape, unwed motherhood, and even prostitution to become the successful and respected poet, writer, actress, and university professor that she is today. Black-and-white photographs liberally placed throughout the book show life in the segregated south in the '30s and '40s, including the scene of a lynching. Other photos show the subject at different stages of her life. For younger readers, try the gentler Maya Angelou (Millbrook, 1994) by Sarah E. King.
Eunice Weech, M.L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Closely following events the poet has described in her several autobiographical volumes (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1970, etc.), this entry in the Black Americans of Achievement series focuses on her youth and, with somewhat less detail, her early adulthood--the extraordinary range of successful careers, as cook, dancer, madam, singer, actress, poet, administrator, journalist, and professor, for none of which she trained formally (again and again, she landed a job in an untried field and carried it off with panache). Shapiro summarizes the years since 1960 in a page or so. His narrative is intelligent, perceptive, and well larded with quotes from Angelou herself; photos range from widely published shots to dramatizations of her life (there's a photo of Diahann Carroll as her mother, but not one of her actual mother) to generic period pictures. Narrow center margins and unconscionably tight binding conspire to make actually reading this useful introduction to a fascinating woman a real chore. Oddly abbreviated chronology; further reading (mostly Angelou's books); index. (Biography. 11+) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Library Binding: 110 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea House Publications (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791018628
• ISBN-13: 978-0791018620
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,130,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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