\nAlthough the title sounds reminiscent of a James Bond thriller, At Her Majesty\u2019s Request is actually a biography of an African princess who became a ward of sorts of Queen Victoria in the 1850s. Her christened name is Sarah Forbes Bonita. As a child, she is captured by another African nation who murders who family and destroys her village. She is kept for two years as a prisoner and then about to be ritually sacrificed when a British naval officer intervenes. She is given to him as a gift to Queen Victoria.\n<\/p>\n
\nQueen Victoria takes an interest in Sarah Forbes Bonetta (nicknamed Sally). She is brought to live with a family in England, raised and educated as an upper class Englishwoman, sporadically visits the Queen and counts her children as playmates. However, patronage is a two-edged sword. Sally can only obey when the queen orders her to one home or another, to one country or another, and finally chooses her husband for her.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe book is slight, only 140 pages. It is written for older elementary school or middle school students (which I didn\u2019t realize when I bought it sight unseen; it had been on my books to read list for a long time. Amazon lists the age range from 4-8. I think it\u2019s more like from 8-12). I found the excerpts from Sally\u2019s actual letters and Queen Victoria\u2019s diaries the most interesting. Walter Dean Myers does a good job piecing together Sally\u2019s life from these few fragments and in putting it into the context of the time. However, like any sketch, we catch only a glimpse of the subject, and can know only externals in broad strokes. What remains is the sense of wonder that it happened at all; this is one of those true stories you never learn in school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although the title sounds reminiscent of a James Bond thriller, At Her Majesty\u2019s Request is actually a biography of an African princess who became a ward of sorts of Queen Victoria in the 1850s. Her christened name is Sarah Forbes Bonita. As a child, she is captured by another African nation who murders who family and destroys her village. She is kept for two years as a prisoner and then<\/p>\n