Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595

Based on the life of a real warrior queen, Nzingha fought the Portuguese over kidnapping her people to be slaves in Angola. Brilliant idea and artwork, but the story wasn’t executed as well. It felt more like an origjn story. The part about her being a warrior was so inconsequential at the end wrapping up most of her life in a catchall sentence or two. Most of the book is about her childhood, which was that she was the daughter of a wise king, to be succeeded by his chubby lazy eldest son. First, why did he have to be overweight and therefore lazy? And second, why must superwomen be described as such incorrigible selfish unlikeable girls? There were so many missed opportunities to tell an inspiring story and it missed the mark. Still show more a pick for telling the story in the first place and the gorgeous artwork. show less

The conceit of this book - the Portuguese priest that Nzingha's father captured has been secretly educating her and her sisters and told her she should start a diary - is very weak. Nzingha shows so much contempt and mistrust for the priest that it doesn't make any sense for her to start this diary at his suggestion. It makes more sense for her to throw the book in the river to spite him, given her attitude to him. But that wouldn't give an excuse to add Nzingha to the Royal Diaries series so obviously that's not what she does. But the sense that this diary, by its very nature, is unrealistic to who Nzingha likely was, makes the book a bit of a tough sell. But I have so much fondness for this series from my childhood nostalgia, that show more I'll mostly let it slide. I can definitely see why I enjoyed it and the rest of the series so much as a kid when it was easier for me to suspend my disbelief. show less

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, by Patricia McKissack, is based loosely on a real-life African princess who would indeed come to lead other warriors against the presence of Portuguese slave traders in the 17th century. This story takes place while she is in her teens and coming of age, and it's written in a first person, diary style that has Nzingha reporting the events happening around her. The relationship she shares with two sisters and a demure mother stands out as charming in its description, but the course of the story more strongly favors her aptitude towards the political planning her people must embrace against a beckoning enemy, the Portuguese. Everything is written in plain language to engage the story's middle school show more target audience, but this proves at times a deficit. Aphorisms are thrown into Nzingha's narrative along the lines of "It's better to be happy than sad" and "The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing." Such well-worn adages come off more as mere platitudes than careful wording that could enhance the story. A rich gallery of photographs and pictures at the back of the book provides a solid historical reference to the story and puts a face on this vital segment of African history. This book could augment the multi-cultural section of a middle school library and also be used in an eighth grade study of the European slave trade in 16th-17th century Africa. show less

This book was very interesting for history. It irritates me that this was not part of American historical education. It is an easy read and there are many fascinating historical facts and resources at the end. The authors of the Royal diaries and dear America diaries do very well with bringing forth historical characters both real and fictional that are true to the time and very real to the reader. Specifically Patricia McKissack, I wish they would make this one into a movie as well. But over all my only wish for this kid series is that there was a movie series of them all and an adult version of them as well. I feel they are good starters for getting anyone but especially kids into history and/or writing.

Personally, I felt like this was one of the better, stronger books in the series. Pretty much all of this was new to me and I loved learning about Nzingha. She was a strong, fierce warrior and she should be more known and not forgotten. I'm so glad I got to read this book. I would recommend this to anyone, but it is obviously for younger readers. Still, 5 out of 5 stars.

I loved the adventures and all of the bravery Nzinga held in her diary of part of her life. The detail made the setting, time and movements so clear in my head.

I had high hopes for this book, since I love The Royal Diaries series. I am sorry to say I was dissapointed. I never managed to get a feel for the characters, as they were never fully developed, remaining one-dimensional throughout the story. The line between good and evil was just too generally defined - Africans good, white people bad. Real life doesn't work that way. And when I completed the story, I felt like something was missing, that I hadn't read the whole book - it cut off so abruptly, at 86 pages, and the historical note and pictures seemed there just to make it look longer. I can't believe that such a short, unsubstational book is going to be $10.95. I expected better from this previously high-quality series. I hoped for more show more since the topic really sounded interesting and unique as well... show less