I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Lesson Plan

What is ironic about Maya and Bailey’s Christmas gifts from their parents?

When Maya and Bailey went to live in Stamps with Momma and Uncle Willie, they assumed that their biological parents were dead. Death, they thought, was the only possible way their parents would willingly abandon them. When Daddy Bailey and Mother sent the kids gifts for Christmas, thus proving that they were still alive, Maya and Bailey are heartbroken. This means their parents did indeed abandon them. In the face of this harsh truth, the kids ironically wish that their parents were actually dead. Being dead would be better than being abandoned.

What sets Daddy Bailey apart from the denizens of...