First Lines of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

 "When I was three and Bailey four, we arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed l—“To Whom It May Concern”—that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson."

- Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Such a well written and powerful book. Each chapter feels like a full recognized short story, and yet the book is a cohesive whole. Angelou makes her childhood  come alive - with all of it's childhood magic, racial injustice, coming-of-age confusion, and terrible tragedies. She went through some terrible experiences, and I'm in awe of her strength and skill in surviving it all and capturing it in such a powerful artistic statement.