Maya Angelou Finds Her Voice

In this sensitively rendered biography of Maya Angelou (1928–2014), the Roops describe how, early in life, “Words whirled and stories spun in Maya’s head and off her lips.” After she experiences an attack at age eight, however, Angelou stops speaking to all but her brother Bailey, fearing that she’s to blame for her attacker’s death. Years later, Beulah Flowers, a customer at her mother’s store, loans the child some books and invites her to read them aloud, an act that offers Angelou “the key to unlock her voice, now finally free to rise up and inspire the world.” Denmon’s gossamer drawings of formerly caged birds foretell the figure’s literary journey, leading to a fanciful spread in which Angelou flies, floats, and glides along a sun-drenched tableau of words read from A Tale of Two Cities. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)