Destiny of the Diamond Princess

by Sherri Winston

The Princess Diaries meets From the Desk of Zoey Washington in this story about a girl who is reconnected with her birth family, only to discover that she is an African princess and the key to unlocking an ancient curse.

For her twelfth birthday, the only thing Zahara-Grace wants is to figure out who she is. She knows she has the best mom and grandpa around, she knows she loves her friends, and she knows she likes to make a difference in her community. But she also knows she's adopted, and she wants to learn more about that side of herself. Zahara-Grace is thrilled when her mom let's her take a DNA test, but she never could have imagined that her biological grandfather would find her. And she definitely never imagined he'd be the king of a small African country!

Now torn between two worlds, Zahara-Grace is even less sure of who she is. Her worlds collide when a mummy exhibit opens at the local museum, showcasing the history and legends of her biological family's country-including an ancient cult who believes with the help of a living heir, they can awaken the mummified remains of a powerful king and conquer the world. Learning she's a princess may have turned Zahara-Grace's life upside down, but now her life is in actual danger. And in order to survive, she must find a way to embrace both sides of herself.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade

240 pages, Hardcover

Published January 20, 2026

About the author

Prepare for your greatest mission yet. Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, is ready to take you on a journey across Manhattan and behind the scenes at her family’s museum. Fast-paced and quick-witted, Jada leads us into her conspiratorial world with great panache and determination. Perfect for cool middle grade spies.
Sherri Winston has eight published works of fiction, and lives in Orlando, FL.

Reviews

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARE provided by Edelweiss Plus

Zahara Grace Jones has always known that she was adopted, and she loves her single lawyer mother as well as her grandfather, G-Pop, but now that she's twelve, she has some questions about her family history. Her bright blue eyes are rather unusual with her Black skin, and she would love to know more. G-Pop gives her a DNA test kit as a gift, but her mother has an even bigger surprise; she knew Zahara's mother through work, and when Zahara's parents were both badly injured in a bicycle accident, the mother wanted Ms. Jones to adopt Zahara when they both died! She left a note as well as a statuette of the goddess Sekhmet and a necklace. The DNA test reveals that her ancestry is mainly Maliwand, with some Nigerian roots as well. Zahara is reunited with her former best friend, Persephone Drager, whose parents were also both killed, and who is now being raised by her aunt, who runs a museum. Sadly, much of the contents were collected before modern methods of keeping items in the countries where they should be, but Persephone's aunt tries to be aware of the damage that colonialistic looting did. There is an exhibit of the Tear of Amun blue diamond coming up. Zahara's biological grandfather, Zumari Babatunde shows up, and turns out to be the king of Maliwanda! There is some tension about this, since Zahara's mother was estranged from her father, but Zahara and her mother are willing to hear him out. Persephone unearths information that Zahara is descended from the wattior princess Fara, but also that there is a family curse. No wonder her mother and father perished! As the gala to celebrate the Tear of Amun diamond is being prepared, Zahara and Persephone, along with friends Tally and Aafia, must work to overturn the curse with an ancient ritual, and Zahara has to think about how invested she intends to be in her role as an African princess.
Strengths: Do middle grade readers still harbor thoughts of being secret princesses? It is an enthralling prospect, certainly, and Zahara's past is especially intriguing. This is handled in a realistic way, with Zahara being a bit miffed at her mother for keeping secrets, even though her birth mother swore her to secrecy. There are lots of fun moments in this book (dancing at an African restaurant and eating delicious food, preparing for the art gala), and it's generally happy and hopeful, even with ALL of the dead parents. This takes a turn into the realm of fantasy that The Princess Diaries does not, and the treatment of ancient African artifacts is explained well. I enjoyed reading this one a lot.
Weaknesses: I'm not sure how well the scenes of Zahara and G-Pop recording dances for TikTok will age, but they'll be amusing for awhile. Zahara lives a VERY posh life, befitting a princess, but my students may not quite understand a lifestyle that includes a private school as well as fencing and horse riding lessons.
What I really think: This was generally a happy, adventurous book, and we certainly need more of those in the world! This has much more in common with Magoon's The Secret Library (which a student checked out and lost right away. Sigh.) and is really nothing like Marks' From the Desk of Zoe Washington, to which the publisher's description compares this.

[Cathy Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great middle-grades book with important themes about family, friendship, and the desire to know and understand your roots -- with a [disappointingly small] dose of mummies and magic. A solid 4 stars from me because I think young readers will enjoy following Zahara-Grace's journey to finding out about -- and finally meeting -- her birth family, and her struggles to work out how to fit all the pieces of her entire family together in her life.

The only things I didn't really love was that the curse plot felt very underdeveloped and then rushed at the end, and the villain in the end seemed too cartoonishly evil.

Overall a good addition to an upper-elementary classroom or library.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

[Beth Given · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zahara-Grace loves her mom and her grandfather, but she's always known she was adopted, and she wonders if knowing more about her birth parents would help her understand herself better. On her twelfth birthday, she makes a wish to learn her heritage, and that wish is quickly answered in a way she's never expected: her biological grandpa is a king of a small African country, meaning she is a princess! But not only that, she may be a descendent of an ancient royal line and the only one who can break a curse.

I enjoyed this obvious nod to The Princess Diaries, and Zahara-Grace's family and friends that love her fiercely. I was a little confused by the whole ancient curse thing.


Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC!

[Renee Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a bookseller who received an advanced listener copy of this book from the publisher on libro.fm.

This is an excellent middle grade book. The family and friend relationships are strong, the story and adventure are exciting, and the characters are well-developed.

My middle school aged kiddo is a fencer and I am so excited to recommend this book to all of the families at his fencing club.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

[Hone]

(Audio courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing, Sherri Winston, and the Libro.fm Audiobook Listening Copy Program.)