Maya Angelou is one of the main American writers and poets of the second half of the 20th century. “That's why a bird in captivity sings” I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Angelou's flagship book - tells the story of her growing up in the prejudiced southern United States. Given along with her brother to the care of her grandmother, Maya has been confronted with incomprehensible to her, the child, rejection and racism since childhood, and at the age of eight she is subjected to violence, the consequences of which she will be forced to put up with all her life. Poetic and powerful, "That's why a bird in captivity sings" has been changing people's minds for the second century and with its wisdom helps readers rethink their own lives.