Name: Rise!
ISBN: 9781620145876

Bethany Hegedus

"A biography of African American writer, performer, and activist Maya Angelou, who turned a childhood of trauma and emotional pain to become one of the most inspiring voices of our lifetime. Includes afterword, author's note, and sources"--

From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou

Rise!

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

My boy, 12-years-old, reading on the couch. Asking questions:

"White girls call her Momma Henderson 'Annie'. This is about white power, right?" I agree and we talk about owning property as Black Americans, how careful Momma had to be to stay safe and keep her business going. Her clenched fists tell us that she did this to survive, not because it was OK with her. Here is the inspiring vision of Momma Henderson as a mighty tree rooted in the earth:



Image by Tonya Engel from Rise! From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou

"What's mute mean? It says that she [Maya] went to the hospital after Mr. Freeman hurt her and became mute. What did he do? How old was she?" Stunned silence when I tell him she was 7 1/2-years-old. And how he hurt her. And that she blamed her voice for his death.

Then, 

"He spends only one night in jail? It should have been years! Then someone killed him? Why did Maya blame herself?" I say that small children create reasons for grown-up's behaviors when they can't understand the motivations or actions of others. And becoming mute was a stunned, survival and stress response to trauma. Perhaps a form of PTSD.

Then,

More reading.

Then,



Recommended for readers ages 10+. Included in my Upper School Library collection. Read in honor of Angelou's work and National Poetry Month.

This video allows Angelou's own, reclaimed voice to echo in the words and illustrations in this picture book biography:

MAYA ANGELOU THE MOST BANNED AUTHOR IN THE U.S.

Rise! From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou

Reviews

Highlights