Banned Book Week, Sept. 27- Oct. 4

It's banned book week. Celebrate your freedom to choose what you read!

The Ten Most Challenged Books of 2007,
in descending order (from Paper Cuts):

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
7. TTYL by Lauren Myracle
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
9. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

How many have you read?

Ending and Beginning

(Photo from Wikipedia)

I've finished reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the story of the young life of Marguerite Johnson, also known as Maya. I loved the ending but won't reveal what happens lest I spoil it for someone else who may read this book. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the beginning book of this seven-volume series by Maya Angelou:

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
2. Gather Together in My Name
3. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas
4. The Heart of a Woman
5. Maya Angelou: Poems
6. I Shall Not Be Moved
7. Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now

Maya Angelou's voice feels real and honest, and her stories hold my attention. I'll definitely look for more of her books.

I've a new book to begin, which is actually an old book that I loved as a child, Amy Moves In, by Marilyn Sachs. I wonder if I'll still find it as appealing as I did as a youngster, and if my daughter will enjoy reading it?

Summer Picnics

Dieters beware! If these descriptions from the book don't put you in the mood for a summer picnic, nothing will:

"The summer picnic gave the ladies a chance to show off their baking hands. On the barbecue pit, chickens and spareribs spattered in their own fat and a sauce whose recipe was guarded in the family like a scandalous affair. However, in the ecumenical light of the summer picnic every true baking artist could reveal her prize to the delight and criticism of the town. Orange sponge cakes and dark brown mounds dripping Hershey's chocolate stood layer to layer with ice-white coconuts and light brown caramels. Pound cakes sagged with their buttery weight and small children could no more resist licking the icings than their mother could avoid slapping the sticky fingers."
~I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

Mouthwatering, yes? I imagine the array of food, and am ready to take part in the feast. The ritual of the summer picnic described in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is full of food, full of fun, full of life.

Here's one of my favorite recipes for ice cream pie to take to a picnic or potluck on a summer day, ready in minutes!

1. Fill a Keebler ready-made cookie crumb crust, any variety, with softened ice cream, any flavor. The good thing about using the ready-made Keebler crust is that it comes with a tin and a cover for the pie.
   
2. Top with whipped light cream, and chocolate shavings, if desired.
   
3. Cover and place in freezer; remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: The Importance of Books

Maya Angelou often talks about the love of reading she and her brother, Bailey, shared in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It was an activity they truly enjoyed, and they'd read together in the evenings in Stamps, Arkansas, whenever possible:

"There was going to be a storm and perfect night for rereading Jane Eyre. Bailey had finished his chores and was already behind the stove with Mark Twain."
~I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

And:

"Pots rattled in the kitchen where Momma was frying corn cakes to go with vegetable soup for supper, and the homey sounds and scents cushioned me as I read of Jane Eyre in the cold English mansion of a colder English gentleman. Uncle Willie was engrossed in the Almanac, his nightly reading, and my brother was far away on a raft on the Mississippi."
~I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

These are warm and secure moments as the children (and Uncle Willy) are engrossed in their books (before the arrival of an unexpected visitor, Mr. Taylor). The importance of books in Maya Angelou's life was central; she credits her adult friend, Mrs. Flowers, for her lifelong love of reading, who, in Maya Angelou's words, "had given me her secret word which called forth a djinn who was to serve me all of my life: books."

Also see post, The Power of Books.
Your comments and questions are welcomed.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free,
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings--
I know why the caged bird sings.
~Third Stanza of the poem "Sympathy" (1899) by Paul Laurence Dunbar; title of Maya Angelou's book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical novel (although there are fictional aspects to the work), which highlights the racism she faced growing up, as well as the importance of books and literacy, and tells the story of her life from the age of three until sixteen. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published in 1969, after the author was extremely disturbed by the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. James Baldwin, Robert Loomis, and others "dared" Maya Angelou to write an autobiography. At first she was reluctant, because she considered herself a poet, but in 1970 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings won the National Book Award, and was on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for a few years, the first in a series of six-volumes by Maya Angelou.

In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, young Maya does not feel she's as beautiful as the rest of her immediate family, but realizes she is smart and sensitive. She adores her older brother, Bailey, Jr., and is an avid reader. Books are her salvation, including the works of Shakespeare. The children travel by train when they're three and four years old by themselves to live with their grandmother, called "Momma", and Uncle Willy, in Stamps, Arkansas. Momma has a general store, "the Store", where Maya and Bailey spend a lot of their time, and she provides a home for Maya and Bailey while their parents live in California and St. Louis. Affected by ugly, senseless racism, Maya must learn to protect her growing strength and dignity. This autobiographical novel has been the target of censorship in homes and schools over the years since it's publication, because it tackles some very difficult subjects. Maya Angelou writes with remarkable spirit. The horrific event of her childhood--she was raped at the age of 8 by her mother's boyfriend--shatters my heart. Somehow she found the courage and strength to go on, and much later to put her story into words, with honesty and compassion.