Books by Maya Angelou

"Thoroughly enjoyable . . . an important document drawing more much-needed attention to the hidden history of a people both African and American".--Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Highlighting the promise of peace, this beautifully illustrated picture book unites families of different faiths and cultural backgrounds in a charming celebration of Christmas and the loving spirit of the season. 50,000 first printing.

This elegant volume commemorates the creation of an extraordinary movie, featuring: specially commissioned watercolors which served as "storyboards"; production and historical photos and documents; essays by director Spielberg, producer Allen (who pursued the project for 13 years), and poet Angelou; and a lengthy text on the making of the film about the fight for freedom by 53 Africans, who, in 1839, were captured as slaves and who rebelled on the Spanish slave ship Amistad.

The beloved and best-selling author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reads aloud from her third book of verse. She not only gives life to many of her most cherished poems, but she also presents personal introductions to several favorites, including "One More Round", "Woman Work", and "Life Doesn't Frighten Me".

These poems are powerful, distinctive, and fresh, and as always, full of the lifting rhythms of love and remembering. And Still I Rise is written, and read, from the heart, truly a celebration of life.

The thirteen poems included here in their entirety are: "A Kind of Love, Some Day"; "Remembrance"; "Where We Belong, a Duet"; "Refusal"; "California Prodigal"; "Willie"; "One More Round"; "Woman Work"; "And Still I Rise"; "Ain't That Bad?"; "Life Doesn't Frighten Me"; "On Aging"; and "Thank You, Lord".

Maya Angelou's third poetry collection, a unique celebration of life, consists of rhythms of strength, love, and remembrance, songs of the street, and lyrics of the heart.

Maya Angelou's third poetry collection, a unique celebration of life, consists of rhythms of strength, love, and remembrance, songs of the street, and lyrics of the heart.

ANGELINA LOVES PIZZA. So much so that when she hears that there is a Leaning Tower of Pisa, and mistakenly thinks it’s made of pizzas, she is so distressed that she must go see it for herself!

Twenty-five of the most outstanding African American women artists have contributed their work to the exhibition "Bearing Witness", celebrating the opening of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and the 115th anniversary of the college. Works in all mediums are included here - paintings, sculptures, fiber art, mixed mediums, and prints - created by some of today's most exceptional artists, among them Lorna Simpson, Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, and Betye Saar. Because of its history as the first institution of higher learning for black women, Spelman has become a mecca, a true wellspring of strength and sustenance for African American women. It is only fitting that these artists gather to honor Spelman College, which has long nurtured the creative and educational vision of black women. The arts have always held a central place at Spelman. The college has an impressive fine arts tradition that began with the assemblage of one of the first college-held collections of works by black artists. The tradition continues with the opening of the college's new Museum of Fine Art, the centerpiece of the new Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center. The museum's 4,500 square feet of exhibition space is designed to house the college's internationally recognized collection of paintings, prints, and photographs, as well as an impressive grouping of African sculptures and textiles. The museum also includes a conservatory, one of the few in the country devoted to preserving African American artworks.

This perfect poetry companion brings the words of the world's favorite poets to life. Hearing poetry spoken - as it was originally intended to be heard - adds dramatically to your understanding and appreciation of the form. Be moved, amused, and awed by these expert interpretations of even the most familiar poems.

Revisit favorites from the 1850s through the present such as:

"Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot

"Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
and so many more...

This is Volume 2 of The Best Poems of All Time. Have you heard Volume 1?

Angelou's poems are beloved for their humor, their contagious musical rhythms, and their celebration of African-American culture in all its rich diversity--particularly the struggles and achievements of black women.

First read by Maya Angelou at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, this wise and moving poem will inspire readers with its memorable message of hope for humanity.

A single volume omnibus edition featuring Angelou's celebrated autobiographies contains I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Gather Together in My Name, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, The Heart of a Woman, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, and A Song Flung Up to Heaven.

An eloquent, inspirational, and timeless anthology of poems captures the extraordinary qualities that transcend everyday life and includes such acclaimed works as "On the Pulse of Morning," "Amazing Peace," "A Brave and Startling Truth," and "Mother." 125,000 first printing.

For the first time in her own words comes the personal story of a life filled with heartbreaking setback and triumph, from one of the most celebrated talents the world has ever known.

After Celia Cruz passed away on July 17, 2003, more than a half million people stood in line for hours in order to pay their respects, in both Miami and New York. Millions more paid tribute to her, holding impromptu memorials in living rooms and crowded street festivals throughout the world.

Filled with the sound of her unmistakable voice, as fans played the songs that she will forever be remembered for, the Queen of Salsa's passing was marked with the same celebratory fervor Celia Cruz emulated throughout her life and career; a career that spanned the entire latter half of the twentieth century.

Yet Celia Cruz's life had been largely mired in rumor and speculation. When she was alive, Celia Cruz never granted anyone total access to her life story and photo archive. Finally, comes a book that chronicles her own story, in her own words.

From her modest childhood in Cuba to her exile years in Mexico to her remarkable career and life in America, Celia was a woman of contrasts. Her flamboyant costumes contrasted with her simple and straightforward demeanor. She was open and accessible to her fans, but staunchly private about her personal life. She was uninhibited without decadence, honest without offense, confident but not arrogant, and generous without fault. Yet above all, Celia was authentic, and it was this authenticity that resonated so deeply with her public.

Based on more than five hundred hours of taped interviews recorded just months before her death, Celia includes never-before-published personal photos and anecdotes, letting fans glimpse a life that, while lived in the full view of the public, had remained largely private.

Celia celebrates the soul of a life blessed with talent -- strengthened by an unquestioned work ethic as well as an unwavering faith in God and humanity -- in these, her final words to the public she adored, and who equally loved her back.

Por primera vez, y en sus propias palabras, Celia Cruz cuenta la historia de su vida, sus alegrías, sus tristezas y los múltiples obstáculos que tuvo que enfrentar para convertirse en una de las artistas más destacadas de nuestra época.

Cuando Celia Cruz murió , el 17 de julio del 2003, más de medio millón de personas -- en Miami y en Nueva York -- esperaron en fila durante horas para presentarle sus últimos respetos a la Reina de la Salsa. Varios millones más le rindieron homenaje en pequeñas celebraciones conmemorativas, organizadas en sus propias casas y en festivales callejeros a través del mundo entero.

Al son de su inconfundible voz y las canciones que la llevaron a la cima, la muerte de la Reina de la Salsa fue marcada por el mismo gozo que ella supo transmitirle a millones de personas a todo lo largo de su increíble vida y su carrera, una carrera que abarcó toda la segunda mitad del siglo veinte.

Sin embargo, a pesar de su fama y popularidad, la vida de Celia Cruz siempre estuvo cubierta por un velo de misterio. Hasta ahora, nunca le había contado a nadie la historia de su vida y nadie nunca había visto su colección privada de fotos. En este libro, por fin les abre las puertas a sus admiradores y nos cuenta su historia, en sus propias palabras.

De su modesta infancia en Cuba, a sus años de exilio en México y su impresionante carrera en Estados Unidos, de sus extravagantes vestidos a su personalidad sencilla y reservada, Celia fue sin duda alguna, una mujer de contrastes. Era sincera, espontánea y accesible para sus fans, pero siempre fue muy privada con su vida personal. Era desinhibida sin ser decadente, honesta sin ser ofensiva, confiada sin ser arrogante y generosa a más no poder. Sin embargo, antes que nada, Celia era una mujer auténtica. Y esa autenticidad que la caracterizaba, es la que hizo que su público la quisiera tanto.

Basado en más de 500 horas de entrevistas grabadas tan sólo unos meses antes de su muerte, Celia incluye fotografías y anécdotas inéditas sobre la vida de Celia Cruz, revelándole a sus millones de admiradores, una vida que había permanecido muy privada a pesar de haberse vivido sobre el escenario.

Celia es la celebración de la vida de una mujer dotada de un talento extraordinario. Es la historia de una mujer apasionada, trabajadora y que tenía una fe indestructible en Dios y en toda la humanidad. En estas, sus últimas palabras, le rinde homenaje al público que tanto la adoraba.

For the first time, the complete collection of Maya Angelou's published poems-including "On the Pulse of Morning"-in a permanent collectible, handsome hardcover edition.

A moving presentation in her own words of the life of an African-American woman who rose from poverty to become an author whose work is read the world over is accompaned by an inspiring foreword by acclaimed poet Maya Angelou.

The companion volume to a traveling photographic exhibition presents eighty stunning portrait photographs of African-American men and women who exemplify the art of aging with energy, grace, wit, and style.

The companion volume to a traveling photographic exhibition presents eighty stunning portrait photographs of African-American men and women who exemplify the art of aging with energy, grace, wit, and style.

This wise book is the wonderful continuation of the bestselling Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. Even the Stars Look Lonesome is Maya Angelou talking of the things she cares about most. In her unique, spellbinding way, she re-creates intimate personal experiences and gives us her wisdom on a wide variety of subjects. She tells us how a house can both hurt its occupants and heal them. She talks about Africa. She gives us a profile of Oprah. She enlightens us about age and sexuality. She confesses to the problems fame brings and shares with us the indelible lessons she has learned about rage and violence. And she sings the praises of sensuality. Even the Stars Look Lonesome imparts the lessons of a lifetime.

Even the Stars Look Lonesome is Maya Angelou talking of the things she cares about most. In her unique, spellbinding way, she recreates intimate personal experiences and gives us her wisdom on a wide variety of subjects. She tells us how a house can both hurt its occupants and heal them. She talks about Africa. She gives us a profile of Oprah. She enlightens us about age and sexuality. She confesses to the problems fame brings and shares with us the indelible lessons she has learned about rage and violence. And she sings the praises of sensuality.

Even the Stars Look Lonesome imparts the lessons of a lifetime.

This is a continuation of Maya Angelou's personal story, begun so unforgettably in her bestselling I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is full of memorable people and charged with a life-giving quality that marks Maya Angelou's writing.

Combining reminiscences with more than sixty of her personal recipes, the acclaimed author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reflects on important moments of her life that centered around the dinner table and presents Minnesota wild rice, biscuits, potato salad, smoked pork chops, fried meat pies, pot roast, and other favorite dishes. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Throughout Maya Angelou's life, from her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, to her world travels as a best-selling writer, good food has played a central role. Preparing and enjoying homemade meals provides a sense of purpose and calm, accomplishment, and connection. Now in Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, Angelou shares memories pithy and poignant, and the recipes that helped to make them both indelible and irreplaceable.

Angelou tells us about the time she was expelled from school for being afraid to speak, and her mother baked a delicious maple cake to brighten her spirits. She gives us her recipe for short ribs along with a story about a job she had as a cook at a Creole restaurant (never mind that she didn't know how to cook and had no idea what Creole food might entail). There was the time in London when she attended a wretched dinner party full of wretched people; but all wasn't lost, she did experience her initial taste of a savory onion tart. She recounts her very first night in her new home in Sonoma, California, when she invited M.F.K. Fisher over for cassoulet, and the evening Deca Mitford roasted a chicken when she was beyond tipsy, and created Chicken Drunkard Style. And then there was the hearty brunch Angelou made for a homesick Southerner, a meal that earned her both a job offer and a prophetic compliment: "If you can write half as good as you can cook, you are going to be famous."

Maya Angelou is renowned in her wide and generous circle of friends as a marvelous chef. Her kitchen is a social center. From fried meat pies, chicken livers, and beef Wellington to caramel cake, bread pudding, and chocolate eclairs, the 100-plus recipes included here are all tried and true, and come from Angelou's heart and her home. Hallelujah! The Welcome Table is a stunning collaboration between the two things Angelou loves best: writing and cooking.

Throughout Maya Angelou’s life, from her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, to her world travels as a bestselling writer, good food has played a central role. Preparing and enjoying homemade meals provides a sense of purpose and calm, accomplishment and connection. Now in Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, Angelou shares memories pithy and poignant–and the recipes that helped to make them both indelible and irreplaceable.

Angelou tells us about the time she was expelled from school for being afraid to speak–and her mother baked a delicious maple cake to brighten her spirits. She gives us her recipe for short ribs along with a story about a job she had as a cook at a Creole restaurant (never mind that she didn’t know how to cook and had no idea what Creole food might entail). There was the time in London when she attended a wretched dinner party full of wretched people; but all wasn’t lost–she did experience her initial taste of a savory onion tart. She recounts her very first night in her new home in Sonoma, California, when she invited M. F. K. Fisher over for cassoulet, and the evening Deca Mitford roasted a chicken when she was beyond tipsy–and created Chicken Drunkard Style. And then there was the hearty brunch Angelou made for a homesick Southerner, a meal that earned her both a job offer and a prophetic compliment: “If you can write half as good as you can cook, you are going to be famous.”

Maya Angelou is renowned in her wide and generous circle of friends as a marvelous chef. Her kitchen is a social center. From fried meat pies, chicken livers, and beef Wellington to caramel cake, bread pudding, and chocolate éclairs, the one hundred-plus recipes included here are all tried and true, and come from Angelou’s heart and her home. Hallelujah! The Welcome Table is a stunning collaboration between the two things Angelou loves best: writing and cooking.

Two-time Grammy Award-winner Maya Angelou performs her memorable fourth volume of autobiography, which began so auspiciously with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.The Heart of a Woman sings with Maya Angelou's eloquent prose and is filled with unforgettable vignettes of famous people, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm X. Even more central is Maya Angelou's chronicle of the joys and the burdens of being a black mother in America and how the son she has cherished so intensely and worked for so devotedly finally grows to be a man.

In The Heart of a Woman Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to go to New York. There she enters the society and world of black artists and writers. Not since her childhood has she lived in an almost black environment, and she is surprised at the obsession her new friends have with the white world around them. She stays for a while with John and Grace Killens and begins to read her writing at the Harlem Writers Guild. She continues to sing, most notably at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, but more and more she begins to take part in the struggle of black Americans for their rightful place in the world. She helps organize a benefit cabaret for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and then is appointed Martin Luther Kings Northern Coordinator.

Shortly after that, through her friend Abbey Lincoln, she takes one of the lead parts in Genet's The Blacks (it was a remarkable cast, including Godfrey Cambridge, Roscoe Lee Brown, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Raymond St. Jacques, and Lou Gossett), and even writes music for the production.

In the meantime her personal life has taken a tempestuous turn. She has left the New York bail bondsman she was intending to marry and has fallen in love with a South African freedom fighter named Vusumzi Make, who sweeps her off her feet and eventually takes her to London and then to Cairo, where, as her marriage begins to break up, she becomes the first female editor of the English-language magazine.

The Heart of a Woman is filled with unforgettable vignettes of famous people, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm X, but perhaps most important is the story of Maya Angelou's relationship with her son. Because this book chronicles, finally, the joys and the burdens of a black mother in America and how the son she had cherished so intensely and worked for so devotedly finally grows to be a man.

Completely revised and updated throughout, this new edition reflects a remarkable group of women, charting their continued impact on the country and the world. 75 duotone photos. Special commemorative binding.

The critically acclaimed author and poet recalls the anguish of her childhood in Arkansas and her adolescence in northern slums. Reissue.

In the first volume of an extraordinary autobiographical series, one of the most inspiring authors of our time recalls--with candor, humor, poignancy and grace--how her journey began....

In this first of six volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California, where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever.

A phenomenal #1 best seller that has appeared on The New York Times best seller list for nearly three years, this memoir traces Maya Angelou's childhood in a small, rural community during the 1930s. Filled with images and recollections that point to the dignity and courage of black men and women, Angelou paints a sometimes disquieting, but always affecting picture of the people, and the times, that touched her life.

In her first book of poetry since Why Dont You Sing? Maya Angelou, bestselling author of the classic autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, writes with lyric, passionate intensity that reaches out to touch the heart and mind. This memorable collection of poems exhibits Maya Angelous unique gift for capturing the triumph and pain of being black and every man and woman's struggle to be free. Filled with bittersweet intimacies and ferocious courage, these poems are gems--many-faceted, bright with wisdom, radiant with life.

IZAK LOVES REINDEER. Which is good, since he comes from a family of reindeer herders and even has a pet reindeer, named Totti! It is up to Izak to teach his little brother all about responsibility.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

This collection of Angelou's poems is notable for its love poetry as well as for its vivid, angry portrayal of the effects of racial confrontation in American society.

Another remarkable collection of poetry from one of America's masters of the medium. The first part gathers together poems of love and nostalgic memory, while Part II portrays confrontations inherent in a racial society.

This stirring marriage of poetry and art combines the daring of Basquiat's vision with the courage and strength of Angelou's poem to create a place where every child may experience and celebrate his or her own fearlessness. Full color.

Maya Angelou weaves a tapestry of her life's journey. Listeners travel with Ms. Angelou from the deep South to the heart of Africa and back again. She shares with listeners the memories of those mentors and teachers who profoundly influenced her life.

Tenderly, joyously, sometimes in sadness, sometimes in pain, Maya Angelou writes from the heart and celebrates life as only she has discovered it. In this moving volume of poetry, we hear the multi-faceted voice of one of the most powerful and vibrant writers of our time.

Twenty-five of this award-winning poet's finest verse which capture a range of emotions and experiences are paired with illustrations and annotations to give young readers a complete understanding of her poetry that resonates with spiritual strength and hope for the future. 100,000 first printing.

Angelou's poems are beloved for their humor, their contagious musical rhythms, and their celebration of African-American culture in all its rich diversity--particularly the struggles and achievements of black women.

Collected together for the first time in one package--more than 100 of Maya Angelou's most beloved poems. The four volumes included are "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die; I Shall Not Be Moved; On the Pulse of Morning" and "Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well". Unabridged.

Perhaps more than other single text, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings helped to establish the audience and the "mainstream" status of the renaissance in black women's writing, paving the way for the future success of Alice Walker, Terry McMillan, Sherley Anne Williams, and perhaps even Toni Morrison. With Bill Clinton's choice of Angelou as his inaugural poet, interest in her work continues to increase. This casebook will be a most useful guide that will see wide use in the areas where Angelou's autobiography shows a continuing and flourishing readership, especially American autobiography, African-American literature, and women's studies. Along with the introduction by Braxton and an interview with Angelou conducted especially for this volume by Claudia Tate, the selected essays provide at of critical approaches to the text. The book also includes a unique range drawing of her childhood surroundings in Stamps, Arkansas, drawn by Angelou herself.

MIKALE LIVES IN OAHU—one of the beautiful Hawaiian islands, surrounded by water. He also happens to be afraid of the ocean! Luckily, his uncle and a little pet fish teach Mikale something about having confidence in your abilities.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Beloved poet, teacher, dancer, and director Maya Angelou has written a loving and wise ode to motherhood. MOTHER: A CRADLE TO HOLD ME eloquently explores the bond between child and mother through the many phases of life.

Through her friendship with Mrs. Flowers, a cultured and gentle Black woman, Marguerite develops self-esteem and an appreciation for great literature.

An eight-year-old Ndebele girl named Thandi describes her pet chicken, painting special designs on her house, dressing up for school, and her mischievous brother, in the re-release of a title that celebrates the joys and challenges of growing up in South Africa. Simultaneous.

A seamless collaboration between renowned Inaugural poet Maya Angelou and Caldecott Award-winning illustrator Tom Feelings, this intensely sensuous work combines verse with sepia-toned illustrations in a beautiful paean to Black women.

This collection of thirty-six poems is, once again, eloquent evidence of Maya Angelou's continuing celebration of life: Here are poems of love and memory; poems of racial confrontation; songs of the street and songs from the heart.

A poem read for the inauguration of President Clinton looks at the history of the country, its problems, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Dorothy Height's "thought-provoking story about what it takes to enact change and embody the spirit of liberation" (Black Issues Book Review)

Dorothy Height marched at civil rights rallies, sat through tense White House meetings, and witnessed every major victory in the struggle for racial equality. In her best-selling memoir, she walks us through her remarkable life of service and leadership. We witness her childhood encounters with racism and thrill at her New York college life during the Harlem Renaissance. We see her march against lynchings, sit with her onstage as Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream" speech, and watch as she leads the National Council for Negro Women for forty-one years, her diplomatic counsel sought by U.S. Presidents from Eisenhower to Clinton. The result is not just an inspirational account of one woman's fight for civil rights, but also "a poignant short course in a century of African-American history." (The New York Times Book Review)

An Essence Bestseller

A Black Issues Book Review bestseller

A Washington Post bestseller

A Dallas Morning News bestseller

A Boston Globe bestseller

A Denver Post bestseller

At the age of 91, Dorothy Height has written a memoir of her remarkable life, which follows a pattern of protest against discrimination and unfairness. A social worker, organizer, children's advocate, and early civil rights activist, she has also been an adviser on African-American issues to several presidents (most lately, Bill Clinton).

Accompanied by paintings from Paul Gauguin, this beloved poem by the celebrated African American poet reintroduces readers to this inspiring work of poetry.

Maya Angelou, the bestselling author of On the Pulse of Morning, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, and other lavishly praised works, is considered one of America's finest poets. Here, four of her most highly acclaimed poems are assembled in a beautiful gift edition that provides a feast for the eyes as well as the heart. (Poetry)

Five critically acclaimed poems--"Seven Women's Blessed Assurance," "Phenomenal Woman," "And Still I Rise," "Weekend Glory," and "Our Grandmothers"--celebrate the accomplishments of very special women.

Angelou's poems are beloved for their humor, their contagious musical rhythms, and their celebration of African-American culture in all its rich diversity--particularly the struggles and achievements of black women.

A TALL GIRL who is afraid of heights? When Renée Marie's class takes a trip to the Eiffel Tower, she would much rather stay with her feet on the ground than go up to the top!

Selections from Angelou's acclaimed series of memoirs about her early years of struggle and achievement.

This volume contains numerous original translations of ancient poetry, inscriptions, and documents, all of which illuminate the multifaceted nature of sexuality in antiquity.
The detailed introduction provides full social and historical context for the sources, and guides students on how to use the material most effectively. Themes such as marriage, prostitution, and same-sex attraction are presented comparatively, with material from the Greek and Roman worlds shown side by side. This approach allows readers to interpret the written records with a full awareness of the different context of these separate but related societies. Commentaries are provided throughout, focusing on vocabulary and social and historical context.
This is the first major sourcebook on ancient sexuality; it will be of particular use on related courses in classics/ancient history and gender studies.

Lyrical and cadent, dramatic and sometimes playful, these poems speak of love, longing, parting; of freedom and shattered dreams; of Saturday-night partying and the smells and sounds of Southern cities.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer journeys across the United States to document a rich diversity of dance styles and dancers, from classical ballet to the exotic vitality of salsa, in a dramatic visual study that includes interviews with dancers from every region of the globe.

Here Maya Angelou, dazzling entertainer, casts the spotlight on her show business career -- a pageant of international scope. Maya, the woman, shares her sad, failed marriage to a white man, her early motherhood and achingly sensitive relationship with her young son, and her bone-deep, painful suspicion of the white world that welcomes her talent so dramatically ...

The culmination of a unique achievement
in modern American literature: the six volumes of autobiography that began more than
thirty years ago with the appearance of
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings


A Song Flung Up to Heaven opens as Maya Angelou returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X. But first she has to journey to California to be reunited with her mother and brother. No sooner does she arrive there than she learns that Malcolm X has been assassinated.
Devastated, she tries to put her life back together, working on the stage in local theaters and even conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts. Then Watts explodes in violence, a riot she describes firsthand.
Subsequently, on a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King, Jr., who asks her to become his coordinator in the North, and she visits black churches all over America to help support King’s Poor People’s March.
But once again tragedy strikes. King is assassinated, and this time Angelou completely withdraws from the world, unable to deal with this horrible event. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party—where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heaven ends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird.

In this compelling collection of words and pictures, the voices of thirteen major poets, including Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Walter Dean Myers, rise in response to the dazzling vistas and emotionally vivid portraits of award-winning artist Tom Feelings. A unique and moving collaboration that celebrates the sustaining spirit of African creativity. "The selections…are uniformly uplifting, with affirming messages about the heritage, strength and dreams of African Americans." — Publishers Weekly

Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time, shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this best-selling spiritual classic. This is Maya Angelou talking from the heart, down to earth and real, but also inspiring. This is a book to treasured, a book about being in all ways a woman, about living well, about the power of the word, and about the power do spirituality to move and shape your life. Passionate, lively, and lyrical, Maya Angelou's latest unforgettable work offers a gem of truth on every page.