17 Books You Should Read This Black History Month

The first in a volume of seven, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the autobiography of African-American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. Published in 1969, the memoir — which is often categorized as autobiographical fiction — details Angelou's childhood in Stamps, AR, including being raped by her mother's boyfriend at the age of 8, as well as becoming a teen mother at 17.

The coming-of-age story also tackles issues such as race relations in a pre-Civil Rights-era South, poverty, identity, murder and violence, sexual assault, and literacy among minorities.