《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Gr 6 Up-This well-written, detailed look at Angelou's life is not a sugar-coated biography. Using the writer's own words taken from interviews and her autobiographical works, Shapiro shows the pain and disillusionment that helped to shape this courageous and talented woman. Angelou overcame poverty, racism, a dysfunctional family, rape, unwed motherhood, and even prostitution to become the successful and respected poet, writer, actress, and university professor that she is today. Black-and-white photographs liberally placed throughout the book show life in the segregated south in the '30s and '40s, including the scene of a lynching. Other photos show the subject at different stages of her life. For younger readers, try the gentler Maya Angelou (Millbrook, 1994) by Sarah E. King.- Eunice Weech, M.L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
《儿童读物杂志》(Horn Book)书评
The strength of these biographical portraits of three notable African-American women lies in the perceptive insight the authors bring to their subjects. The volumes, which are illustrated with black-and-white photographs, detail how the three women rose to fame. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus评论
Closely following events the poet has described in her several autobiographical volumes (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1970, etc.), this entry in the Black Americans of Achievement series focuses on her youth and, with somewhat less detail, her early adulthood--the extraordinary range of successful careers, as cook, dancer, madam, singer, actress, poet, administrator, journalist, and professor, for none of which she trained formally (again and again, she landed a job in an untried field and carried it off with panache). Shapiro summarizes the years since 1960 in a page or so. His narrative is intelligent, perceptive, and well larded with quotes from Angelou herself; photos range from widely published shots to dramatizations of her life (there's a photo of Diahann Carroll as her mother, but not one of her actual mother) to generic period pictures. Narrow center margins and unconscionably tight binding conspire to make actually reading this useful introduction to a fascinating woman a real chore. Oddly abbreviated chronology; further reading (mostly Angelou's books); index. (Biography. 11+)