Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 by Patricia C. McKissack

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

• 
  Nadia

  I enjoyed this book so much, I read it very fast like for couple of hours only or so, but I am sure I will keep it in my bookshelf, in case I'll have children I want them to know about the life of this remarkable woman.
  
  I am not Angolan but curently I live in Luanda, and the busiest street here is named Gingha (or, Nzingha). I took me sometime to understand that Nzingha was an Angolan queen, who fought for her kingdom against colonialist (portuguese) and slavery. I was amazed to hear that story from somebody. Amazed to imagine in this patriarchy society, she was the warrior and the leader in this country. And on top of that, at that time slavery was so normal -as her mother was also an ex-slave captured during war between the kingdoms, aparently- yet she knew the recent type of slavery brought by her enemy is something else. She said, "This way, the baby of a slave will be born a slave. It is not correct".
  
  Like the previous review mentioned, reading this book I'm stunned by her persistence yet saddened at the same time, knowing that her fight against colonialism was not successful. Although, she still never gave in until end of her time.
  
  Outside Angola -except it says in the book, in Brazil- she is not too popular, but her story is definitely one to be passed on for generations.
  
• 
  Catherine

  I was really excited to read this book since it's not common to find YA historical books set in Africa.
  
  The book started off well enough, but it was far too short for the story it wanted to tell. Like, ridiculously short. Stories can be told in few pages, and well, but this didn't work at all. I enjoyed reading more about the actual history about Nzingha than the made up history in the diary.
  
  Also, the whole "Njali is a traitor!" reveal was pretty cool, and then IMMEDIATELY erased in like a paragraph in the next page. Like... we didn't even get to see that conversation with Nzingha's father, explaining about his work as a spy. Just "Oh btw Njali isn't a traitor I will trust my heart not my eyes teehee!" (which, btw, is terrible leadership sense in my opinion and it's clear from history that Nzingha was a talented ruler).
  
  Also, even though it was historical, it bothered me that Nzingha was hailed as an anti-slavery advocate when... she really wasn't. It could have been fascinating to see the historical difference in her cultural slavery vs. European, but even in the historical notes it was all 'She was fiercely against slavery'. It's unclear from the historical notes if the historical figure was against her own people's ownership of slaves (it wasn't chattel slavery, but it was still slavery). It felt dishonest.
  
  I really liked the author's book "A Picture of Freedom" about a slave girl in the American South, so I was quite disappointed.
• 
  Andrea Cox

  This book is a great glimpse at African culture during the late 1500s. The idea of a warrior princess/queen is fascinating, and I think the author handled the telling of Nzingha’s story quite well. I especially appreciated the in-depth historical note that followed the fictionalized story. It got me even more interested in learning more about this Matamban warrior queen.
  
  Rating: 4 stars
  Reasons: African culture/rituals that include spiritual readings and sacrifices to ancestors (sacrificing spoken of but not in great detail nor seen)
  
  I was not compensated for my honest review.
• 
  Andrew

  This book introduces the reader to Queen Nzingha, but ends after her early life. I was expecting the diary entries to cover more of her later life which was the period when this queen accomplished most in her conflict with the Portuguese. Still, it is a useful introduction.
• 
  Autumn

  Interesting to read about such a fascinating woman. Nzingha is a strong, intelligent leader. This particular story also offers insight into the history of the invading Portuguese and the slave trade they ran from Africa to Brazil. Chilling to read about that.
  
  The brief history of Nzingha portrayed here is interesting—she was an amazing leader who lived into her 80’s leading her armies to battle with her life-long loyal sisters and denouncing the slave trade—but I wanted more about her later life. I also wanted more information about Portugal and Angola’s relations today and how they got that way. How did Portugal get out of the slave trade and what did that do to their relation with Angola? What are they like today? Is there still distrust? There’s no mention of how the peoples today feel toward each other.
  
  I also wanted more detail about what Angola itself is like today, besides a “war torn” country. (Wars among whom?) In other words, I wanted to know more about what happened after this story, how the actions of the Mbundi people durning the mid-1500’s to late 1600’s affected their country today. Also, a better, more detailed map would have been helpful to identify the mentioned areas.
  
  I understand some information is hard to come by, but this story is too short and left me wanting to know more about Nzingha’s reign, her people, and her country both then and now. Fascinating warrior queen worthy to join the ranks of the other Royal Diaries in the series, but, unfortunately, not the most complete story, and Nzingha’s story has and deserves more.
• 
  Lily Rause

  Un très bon jeunesse
  Un livre qui montre une autre vision de l'esclavage
  Super bonne découverte pour ado et adultes
• 
  Toughlove

  Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba, by Patrick Mckissasck, is just one of the many book series, in The Royal Diaries. Nzingha is a princess, who lives in Angola; Africa in 1595, her only wish is to hunt with her father, before she marries. She is only thirteen, but is very mature for her age. This book was written based on a true person, some of the characters names are false, but their existence is true. The book is mostly her life and written as a journal of what is going on in her life. It is very exciting, funny, and would make you think what would happen if you said the things that you read in this book. She expresses her opinions with little remorse, until she is proven wrong, and knows what she wants. The story takes place when the Portuguese, were trying to invade her village. The only thing that she wants is to be noticed by her father and the court, so she can be treated like her younger half brother. She fells more than capable to lead her village when it is time, and that her brother isn’t. This book or journal, is about a girl wanting to be seen as a grown up in peoples eyes.
  
  Patrick Mckissasck wrote this book so that all the children who read it could see that they are not the only ones who feel like they aren’t important in their fathers, or anyone’s lives. He wrote it so the readers could see that you should never give up on your dreams and always stand up for what you believe in, and that is what Nzingha stood for. She was a symbol of inspiration to her people when she ruled, and was when she died too. Everyone who reads this book can relate to it, because we all want something in life and there are always people trying to get in your way, or people that are plotting against you. I would recommend this book to everyone, and to teenagers that are thinking on giving up their dreams, so that they could see how this one girl kept on believing even when their was only a little piece of hope.
  
• 
  Forever Young Adult

  Graded By: Maria
  Cover Story: Anogla's Next Top Model
  BFF Charm: Eventually
  Swoonworthy Scale: 1
  Talky Talk: Brevity is the Soul of Wit
  Bonus Factor: Sub-Saharan, Pre-Colonial African History
  Anti-Bonus Factor: Smallville Syndrome
  Relationship Status: Comrades-in-Arms
  
  Read the full book report
  here.
• 
  Anna

  Some good info in here about Nzingha and her life in the 1590s in Africa. It was interesting to read about her culture and how African "royalty" is formed under the chief, the Ngola. However, it didn't bother me so much that I didn't like this book overall, because it's so extremely short. It also reveals a twist that is then taken back almost immediately. This one's good for the cultural and historical info, but lacking for a compelling story in the fiction department.
• 
  Alexa

  Another pre-read for J's 8th grade year. This one is a quick, light read focusing on the early teenage years of Nzingha. It does a decent job of introducing the young woman and evoking the world she lived in. I did find myself wanting more of the story - she only becomes queen in the epilogue.
• 
  Kaylabee

  So, like, not to make everything about race or whatever but....why the black princesses’ book gotta be so short????
  
  I was so psyched to read this book and learn about Nzingha but the story part of the book is only like 90 pages! I get it that we don’t have a ton of information and resources to pull from to build an accurate account of history, but, HELLO, it’s historical FICTION. Why didn’t they play up the romance? Or describe her toiling away under Mbandi’s rule?? There was a ton of potential for a great story here but I feel like the writer just did. Not. CARE.
  
  Honestly, it felt a bit insulting to African culture. Why would you offer such a weak and flippant story to such an important historical figure? Nzingha lived at such an important time; right as the slave trade was opening up in earnest in America and Brazil. She fought against slavery and led an army and yet you only deem her worthy of 90 pages of a plot-less ramshackle half-butt story???? What gives??? I am so disappointed!
• 
  Virginia Henderson

  I've had this book for a really long time and only read it once before but after recently reading
  Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba I felt like revisiting this one just for fun.
  
  The Dear America series will always hold a special place in my heart. I grew up devouring these and for the longest time I would ONLY read these and the spin offs, Royal Diaries and My Name is America. I think my favorite parts were the pictures, recipes, maps and more in the back of the books. They really brought the stories to life.
  
  This particular book was never one of my absolute favorites but reading it again after so many years I appreciated the twists and the 'who can I trust'? moments.
  
  Overall, not a bad read. I wish it had been a bit longer tho. I enjoyed it and if you like the series or have an interest in Africa and it's famous queen, you might like this too.
• 
  Ele

  This book was very cool and feminist. I usually try to give a better description, but this is the truth. My main qualm is how short it is, as it is the shortest in the entire series. I don't know much about African culture, and while I did enjoy what I saw here, I still found that it could have been longer.
  
  Nzinga managed to save her entire nation from the slave-abducting Portuguese. We need to have more of a focus on her role in history, and just stop ignoring her right now.
  
  The Royal Diaries was a non-euro-centric series of fictional diaries on the lives of various real princesses throughout history. Only half of these are set in Europe, and 4 of the non-European diaries are on Native North and South Americans. They always have a historical note at the end which is almost always very informative.
• 
  Grace

  I borrowed this from the library becuase of fond memories of reading other books from this series a number of yours ago as a tween. This book lvied up to those memories and was a fun ascape back into those years, and I recommend it to anyone just arriving at them. The only thing I'd say, is that the book and it's epilogue made a focus of Nzingha being against slavery, when in fact, she was merely against slavery as practised by europeans, not that of her own people. And as commendable as her life seems to have been, I felt there was a distinct effort to whitewash her in this area, and to insinuate that she was something that she does not appear to have been, namely a principalled anti-slavery campainger.
  Let's leave that for William Wilberforce.
• 
  Kelsey Hanson

  Nzingha is an incredibly intriguing leader. She is best known for the account where she was insulted by the Protugese by not being provided a chair. She didn't let that stop her. She just had a servant bend over as a chair so she could look the governor in the eye and get the respect she deserved. Her story is just COOL! She was pretty bad ass! She was a great leader and warrior, the people loved her and she was able to resist the Portugese slave drive. The one big disappointment was how short this book was. It seemed like things were just starting to get good and BAM done. It left me with a "really? Is that all? But I was having fun!" feeling. Apart from that, I really enjoyed this book.
• 
  Nea

  I wish I'd been given the opportunity to learn about Angola's Queen Nzingha when I was a young girl doing my world history studies in school. Of course, American education never includes such teachings; but this book is one of many that parents can use to teach their young children at home. It's an easy, informative read about a courageous female warrior who resisted the slave trade and made her mark in this world.
• 
  Rachel

  I adore this series and this book was one of the better ones in the series. A very interesting look into life in pre-colonial Africa. I enjoyed the description of customs and traditions and really felt a sense of time and place. I would highly recommend this book.
• 
  Tiffany

  This was my least favorite Royal Diaries book so far. The story ended so abruptly; it seemed like the author just got tired of writing the book so she stopped.
• 
  Montana Crossman

  Good series for middle-school aged students. historical Fiction which is not entirely accurate, but could be a gateway to a fascination with a person or time period.
• 
  Violet Perry (Just a Bookish Blog)

  Good historical fiction novel, although it's really see short.
• 
  Tyler Zamora

  What a pleasure it has been revisiting my Royal Diaries series! I owned a ton of these as a kid. Recently, as an adult, I decided to finish my collection so I could pass these books down to my future son or daughter and have the complete set. One of the first I purchased that I never owned before was this book about Nzingha. It always stuck out to me because it was one of the few books that featured a woman of color on the cover. I also had the Cleopatra one and loved it, so I figured another Royal from Africa must be just as interesting. (Although, I have not read any Royal Diaries books better than Cleopatra’s so far, because that is definitely my favorite, Nzingha took a solid second place.) My only complaint is that the book is so short, but I understand that there is very little information about her.
  
  With that being said, I still thought the book did a great job (like all Royal Diaries and Dear America books do) of showing us the humanity that exists inside all of us, regardless of time, space, societal settings, etc. I found Nzingha such an inspiration, especially for young black women. I mean this woman was a warrior. Not only did she lead her people, she fought right along side them. I have serious respect for her. It’s very rare to see a leader fight with their people, usually they just sit safely in their office while they make decisions which will end the lives of their soldiers. I thought it very commendable that Nzingha put her own life on the line with her people. That shows heart, loyalty, and fearlessness. I can’t think of any other female leader in history who has done this. I’m sure they exist, but it definitely gave Nzingha badass status in my opinion. I also loved how vehemently against slavery she was. She understood at a very young age that every person should be in charge of their own destiny. She kept that sentiment throughout her entire life.
  
  Another reason I knew I loved this book was the fact that I had to find out more info on Nzingha after reading. I found that she may have possibly poisoned her brother, which is questionable, so I’m sure that’s why it was omitted from this book. She also ruled with her two sisters as her advisors, which is very cool during a time when society did not even recognize her as a true leader. I love that she demanded respect, even if that meant using unconventional means, like using a servant as a chair so she was at eye level with Portuguese negotiators. What an icon! Her story reminded me of the agency we must all take in our own lives, despite what society tells us we can and can’t do. If you’re good, you’re good, and Nzingha was great!
• 
  Hannah

  I was very surprised to find how short this book is; the diary portion only takes up 86 pages! That being said, it was a fast read (obviously) and had a few moments of humor to break up the serious topics addressed.
  
  I’d never heard of Nzingha before picking up this book, but I’d like to learn more about her. Her personality was very bold and had consequences at times, but it never deterred her from doing what was right. She’s only thirteen and she’s a skilled hunter, and later in life she became a queen and a general of her own army. She opposed slave trade and fought the Portuguese her entire life. While she was diplomatic, she also didn’t put up with nonsense, especially from her half-brother. I loved her character and it’s easy to see why she’s still celebrated today.
  
  Patricia C. McKissack did have to fabricate quite a bit for this story, but she did a great job portraying Nzingha’s relationships with her family. I especially loved her younger sisters; Kifunji was a little sass master and had me laughing with her little quips. Her future husband, Azeze, was respectful and saw her as an equal, and their flirting was very sweet and left me wanting more on that front (which is a good thing!). Her relationship with her father was complicated, and I felt like it developed a little too fast given how short the book was. I liked that she struggled at first to win Papa Kiluanji’s attention, but the tension with that was weak when two pages later he was inviting her to hunt with his warriors.
  
  I’m still not sure how to feel about Father Giovanni, the captive Portuguese priest. I realize for the story he needed to be portrayed in a positive light, and maybe he wasn’t a bad person per say, but something always felt a little off with him. Njali being a double agent was also something that bothered me. He was revealed to be in league with the Portuguese, but then it turned out he was just spying on them to help halt the slave trade. Again, I feel like if the book was longer, this subplot could have worked better instead of it being a five-page conflict that felt too easily wrapped up.
  
  It’s a shame this book is so short, but there’s quite a bit of historical information in the back, as well as a pronunciation guide and glossary, which is very useful. I’m excited to read more of McKissack’s Dear America books in the future.
• 
  Adrienne

  From the author: “researching the life of Nzingha was a learning experience for me. I had never heard of this remarkable woman, but I am proud to know about Nzingha now. Her story is worth telling. … I’ve always loved history-especially African and -American history. Wanting to know more about my own culture and wanting to share that knowledge with others is the motivation that keeps me writing.”
  
  An enjoyable, informative and quick read as an adult. I long for more detail and information about the topics brought up here and look forward to further reading in this area. I appreciate the Royal Diaries for using their platform to discuss challenging topics with young readers.
  
  Summary: Nzingha is the first daughter of the ruler of the Mbundu peoples. She navigates power and prejudice in a power-patriarchal but culturally-matriarchal society. She earns the respect of many people despite her “outsider” standing and after the deaths of her father and half-brother, serves as warrior-queen in resistance to the Portuguese slave trade.
• 
  Emily

  This book was very short and went very quick compared to other royal diaries books. I’m assuming because there isn’t too much information on Nzingha. For an adult, it’s a good overview of what it was like to be living during the time of the slave trade in Africa. And introduces us to a very important leader during that time that I had previously known nothing about. For kids it’s probably even better. Let them know who this important woman is without too many details that might bore them and cause them to tune out. I definitely read this as a child but remember nothing of it. It was a little difficult to keep track of characters with difficult and sometimes similar names when I’m not familiar with the language but it was too bad. Not as bad as other books I’ve read. And wasn’t too over the top with words in another language that made the story hard to follow. So overall not bad. Not action packed enough for me to love it but short enough not to get bored.
• 
  Nancy H

  This is an excellent story of a brave woman who lived in what is now Angola, Africa in the sixteenth century. Based on true events, this book tells her story as she rises to become a leader of her people as they fight against the Portuguese slave traders who try to defeat and capture them to be used as slaves in the New World. Thwarted by her unintelligent and ineffectual half-brother who ruins the unity of the tribes in that area and who makes deals to provide people to the slave traders, Nzinga leads her own group of people into the hills, where they continue to fight for their homeland and for their very lives. Although the main story of the book is fictionalized to make it flow more easily when read, it is based on the actual events of Nzinga's life. She was a true warrior in the best sense of the word, and she deserves attention and respect for how she lived her life.
• 
  Ladymoiraina2021

  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.
• 
  Dottie

  This is probably my least favorite of the "royal diaries series" simply because the life of Nizingha is much more interesting than they make it out to be in this book. Nizingha is the daughter of the leader of the Mbundu people of Ndongo in modern day Angola. She's a fierce warrior, but because she's female and the daughter of the second wife of the King, her brother is more highly favored than her. My problem with this "diary" is the fact that it only contains one major exciting event, while the rest of the story is slave trade from a young girl's eyes.
  Still a good read, don't get me wrong, but not my favorite.
• 
  Zaki

  Reading it for my kid's book club. The end is somewhat abrupt, but understood due to the nature of how the information was compiled. I think that it is written well enough to inspire a thirst for more knowledge about Nzingha. My hope is that my children will inspired to discover more about Africa and African people. More than anything, I am inspired by stories of rebellion against European colonization of Africa, as well as those that give a glimpse into the background of how people of African descent ended up in the various places around the world that they now call home. My hope for my children is for a more well rounded understanding of themselves, presently and historically.
• 
  Young Adult Historical Vault

  An interesting and well-crafted book, but would have benefited greatly from being maybe 50 pages longer. There simply aren't enough pages to get through everything brought up! It's an interesting time period with an interesting protagonist and interesting plot, and there's a real lack of fiction in this era/place, but could have been so much better if there was MORE.
  
  For my full review including spoilers, check out Young Adult Historical Vault.
  https://yahistoricalvault.com/2017/03...