At her Majesty's Request

Frantic shouts and cries awaken a young girl. Her West African village is being attacked. She is dragged out of her home and watches in horror as her parents are murdered before her eyes. The attacking warriors examine her and notice the markings on her face. They are the markings of a princess.

The girl is captured and held for a ritual in which she will be killed. Then, in 1850, on the very day set for her death, a British naval officer rescues her. She is christened Sarah Forbes Bonetta and taken to England. There she is presented to Queen Victoria, who decided to provide for the upbringing of this young, orphaned princess.
Walter Dean Myers discovered a body of letters concerning Sarah, and some actually written by her, in a rare book and ephemera shop in London. What he saw there fascinated him, and he set out to unearth the details of her unique and engaging life. He found an extraordinary story — of royalty, of race, of class, of belonging, and of identity. Now, after years of meticulous research, Myers unveils this arresting portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, African princess.

I was thinking this book was going to be a work of fiction, yet its more like a "fact" book it's a book that just spells out the things they know about Sarah's life, through letters and diary's and even books. I still surprisingly enjoyed it, i normally don't enjoy books like that but did this one, the history behind Sarah and her life is very interesting and surprising at times. I would recommend this book to a young history lover, it's a rather short only around 150 pages long with rather large print it won't take long to read through. All in all a good read. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.