Scholastic Booktalk

AT HER MAJESTY'S REQUEST: An African Princess in Victorian England
By Walter Dean Myers

Follow the fascinating life story of an African princess who became a prisoner doomed to be executed, but was rescued and brought to England as a ward of Queen Victoria.

The attack came in the middle of the night. Tall, fierce women warriors surrounded the small village, and destroyed it. Hundreds of villagers were slaughtered, and the chief and his wife were beheaded in front of their horrified children, the youngest girl only 5 years old. She was among the survivors who were rounded up and taken to the capital city, were they would be held until they were sacrificed in bloody rituals.

The warriors were Dahomans, ruled by a cruel and powerful king named Gezo. They were responsible for much of the slave trade in Africa. That's why Commander Forbes came to him on behalf of Queen Victoria, to ask him to give up the slave trade and sell palm oil instead. One of Gezo's prisoners was the girl. She had been held in solitary confinement ever since she'd been captured in that bloody raid two years before, and today it was her turn to die. At the last minute, Forbes was able to persuade Gezo to spare the little girl. Forbes was allowed to take her to England, to meet Queen Victoria.

And so began one of the strangest tales of that time. The young African princess was christened Sarah Forbes Bonetta, taken to London, and made a ward of Queen Victoria, who was responsible for her care, wardrobe, and education. She visited the palace frequently to play with the royal children. There were other black people in England, but Sarah was nothing like them. She was part of the upper class and considered a person of substance.

What must it have been like for her? She had spent her first five years in a small remote African village, had seen her parents killed, had been imprisoned for two years, was rescued within moments of her death and then taken halfway around the world to a strange country where she was befriended by a Queen. How could a 7 year old cope with these overwhelming changes?

What kind of a person was Sarah Bonetta, and how did she survive? What happened to her when she grew up? Read Walter Dean Myers's fascinating book about this strange and little-known true story, and find out.

Booktalk by Joni R. Bodart

 

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  At Her Majesty's Request by Walter Dean Myers Acclaimed author Myers discovered actual letters concerning Sarah Forbes Bonetta in a shop in London. After years of meticulous research, Myers unveils an arresting portrait of the African princess whose parents were murdered by enemy warriors. A British naval officer rescued her and brought her to England, where she became the protegé of Queen Victoria herself. $4.99 Paperback Book | Grades 6-9

  
  At Her Majesty's Request
  Grades 6-9 $4.99
  
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  	Guided Reading Set: Level X - At Her Majesty's Request See below for titles! $13.60 You save: 55% Paperback Book Collection | Grades 4-6

  
  Guided Reading Set: Level X - At Her Majesty's Request
  Grades 4-6 $13.60
  

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