Well it has been a little bit of a struggle to start reading more of these books since I am on vacation now. The pull of being a little lazy has proved to be a bit over powering at the moment. I have managed to read Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba though.
This story takes place in Angola which is located in the southwest region of Africa in 1595. The diary is written by the young Nzingha who would rather be out hunting with the warriors instead of at the royal compound learning to be a proper African lady. She often carries around a bow and arrows and would really like to have a closer relationship with her father the Ngola or ruler of the Mbundu kingdom.
Throughout the story the Portuguese are trying to invade Mbundu land and take the people as slaves as well as establish themselves in Africa. Through this conflict Nzingha has a chance to become closer to her father and she aids him with the negotiations.
The unfortunate part of this story is that the diary seems to end before the best and most interesting parts of the story begin. By reading the historical note at the end of the novel, I learned that Nzingha became one of the first Ngolas of her people and tried her best to keep the Portuguese off her land. I think the story might have ended without the discussion of these topics because: 1) these events happened later in her life and the diaries focus on young girls 2) some of the events were quite violent. Other then the seemingly abrupt ending to her story, I found the diary of Nzingha to be very interesting because I did not know much about African history and culture and this helped me learn some about those.
For those of you who would like more information on the book:
- Hardcover
- Publisher: Scholastic (September 1, 2000)
- ASIN: B001IAU3SK
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