I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography about the early years by writer and poet Maya Angelo. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming of age story that illustrates how strength of character and love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified woman capable of responding to prejudice.