Helen Plum Library

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
 
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town,...

In this book, Angelou details what brought her mother to send her away, and unearths the well of emotions she experienced long afterward as a result. For the first time, she reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence, a presence absent during much of the author's early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent three-year-old...

In this unforgettable book, the award-winning writer, during his recovery after a life-threatening heart surgery, reflected on his many losses and accomplishments, and on all that remained to be done, sharing his aspirations for his writings and his hope that he made the world a better place

Presents nine Arab-American and Muslim authors, providing a biography of each writer, a summary of their works, and an analysis of their style and major themes

In 1940, Hans and Margret Rey fled their Paris home as the German army advanced. They began their harrowing journey on bicycles, pedaling to Southern France with children's book manuscripts, including what would become the international sensation Curious George, among their few possessions. Louise Borden combed primary resources, including Hans Rey's pocket diaries, to tell this dramatic true story. Her collection of archival materials introduce readers...

A memoir that examines rural poverty and the lingering strains of racism in the South by the author of Salvage the bones

"A poetic and raw coming-of-age memoir in essays about blackness, masculinity, and addiction"--

"Sarah M. Broom's [memoir] The Yellow House tells a hundred years of her family and their relationship to home in a neglected area of one of America's most mythologized cities. This is the story of a mother's struggle against a house's entropy, and that of a prodigal daughter who left home only to reckon with the pull that home exerts, even after the Yellow House was wiped off the map after Hurricane Katrina."--