Maya Angelou: Journey of the Heart (Rainbow Biography) [Hardcover]

Jayne Pettit (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1996 | Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Rainbow Biography

An introduction to the life of Maya Angelou chronicles her painful childhood in Arkansas through her glamorous stage career to her triumphant rise as a world-renowned writer, lecturer, and human rights activist.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8?This interestingly told account begins on the steps of the Capitol Building in 1993, as Angelou recites her inaugural poem, "On the Pulse of the Morning." Drawn from her subject's autobiographies, Pettit then details the childhood journeys of Marguerite Johnson and her brother from California to their grandmother's home in Stamps, AR; to their mother's hometown of St. Louis, MO; back to Stamps; and then, following their mother's remarriage, to San Francisco. During these first 17 years of Angelou's life (which account for half of the text), readers learn of her rape at age 8 and the subsequent murder of her assailant, her ensuing silence, and her teenage pregnancy and single motherhood. These events are told in a straightforward but compassionate way. The rest of the book is devoted to Angelou's professional development and achievements, as well as her personal relationships. The final chapter summarizes the past 30 years. Disappointingly, only a handful of black-and-white photographs are included. Nonetheless, this is a short, readable biography.?Marilyn Makowski, Greenwood High School, SC
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5^-7. The best parts of this biography are those about Angelou's childhood and youth that draw on the classic I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), the first and greatest of her five autobiographies. Pettit makes that stirring story accessible to middle-grade readers, while retaining a strong sense of Angelou's personal voice. It's an account of childhood trauma (including rape) overcome with the help of family and community. The other parts of Pettit's biography are more distant, with too much reverential rhetoric about "the value of survival and the beauty of creativity." In the chapter on Angelou's time in Ghana, there's little sense of the complexity Angelou felt about displacement and home. What will grab readers are the people from Stamps, Arkansas: Angelou's beloved older brother and her grandmother and the woman who read to the traumatized child from Dickens and helped her to find her own ringing voice. There are black-and-white photos in the center of the book. Clear chapter notes will make it easy for kids to go from here to I Know Why. Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525675183
• ISBN-13: 978-0525675181
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,108,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Caroline's review on Maya Angelou: Journey of the Heart, April 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Maya Angelou: Journey of the Heart (Rainbow Biography) (Paperback)

Recently I have read Journey of the Heart by Jane Pettit. I have found it to be a wondorously enchanting novel about the life and hardships of the great poet Maya Angelou. It was extraordinary, reading the book was almost like watching a movie. The author was so descriptive that I could see little photographs in my head of what was happening at the time. In conclusion I would have to say that this is one of the greatest books that I have ever read.