Renée Watson’s “Maya's Song” Gets a Starred Review In Booklist!

Advanced Review – Uncorrected Proof

By Renée Watson. Illus. by Bryan Collier
Sept. 2022. 48p. Harper, $19.99 (9780062871589). Gr. 2–5. 920

Eloquent free verse poems recall pivotal events in the life of Maya Angelou: from a crying baby to tall tales told at her grandmother’s store to books borrowed from the white school; from sexual assault at age seven (referenced as “her mother’s boyfriend / hurt her body, hurt her soul”) to her five years of silence to her recovery through poetry. Angelou, for whom words and voice held powerful meaning, forged a lifelong career as a singer, poet, and author in Harlem, Ghana, and around the world. Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor Book author Watson emphasizes how Angelou used her talents for civil rights and social justice to lift up others and, ultimately, herself. In Collier’s signature collage artwork, color, patterns, and imagery also carry meaning and allude to Angelou’s memoirs. Layered illustrations reinforce the weight of words—and their absence. Perhaps the most evocative image is a large depiction of young Maya’s face, cast in blue and spanning two double-page spreads. Despite the symbolic bars that cage her, in her mind rests a bird waiting to take flight, and her mouth is a bloom waiting to open. A concluding time line sums up many of the highlighted events. This exquisite tribute to one of America’s most influential poets arrives just in time for young people to celebrate Angelou’s appearance on the quarter.

— Angela Leeper