Poetry for Young People: Maya Angelou

Award-winning poet, author, playwright, historian, songwriter, singer, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, and civil rights activist: Dr. Maya Angelou needs no introduction. She is a true American icon and now she is the first living poet included in Sterling s celebrated Poetry for Young People series. Twenty-five of her finest poems capture a range of emotions and experiences, from the playful Harlem Hopscotch to the prideful Me and My Work to the soul-stirring Still I Rise. While her writings deal with the historic struggles of African-Americans, they all resonate with spiritual strength and hope for the future that everyone can relate to. A special inclusion in this volume is A Brave and Startling Truth, written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. Award-winning artist Jerome Lagarrigue masterfully illustrates each verse with evocative, stunning pictures. Dr. Edwin Graves Wilson, the Provost Emeritus of Wake Forest University and a longtime colleague of Dr. Angelou, has written the book s introduction, the introductions to the individual poems, and the annotations.