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

[Chelsea]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

Destiny of the Diamond Princess by Sherri Winston is a first person-POV middle grade contemporary. Zahara-Grace has almost everything she could want: a loving mom and grandfather, friends, talent in horseback riding, but the one thing she wants the most is to know where she comes from. When a DNA test not only reveals her ancestry, but also the identity of her birth mother, Zahara-Grace learns that she is a princess and the king’s heir.

There is a light speculative element here but it takes a while for it to come forward. As such, I wouldn't call this a contemporary fantasy or even speculative, but rather a contemporary with speculative elements. I do see the Princess Diaries aspects and I agree that it fits as a comp for younger readers as it's more focused on family and friendship instead of having the romantic relationship subplot like Princess Diaries does.

I really appreciated how Zahara-Grace’s empathy for other children waiting to be adopted was depicted. A lot of adoption storylines are about dealing with the complicated feelings around it, which is wonderful and necessary to have, but it's also good for us to have stories about people who are at peace with being adopted and were brought into loving homes, but also do their best to support children who still haven't found a family. Pairing that with Zahara-Grace wanting to know more about her birth family and having a relationship with her biological grandfather helped give Zahara-Grace a lot of depth and likeability.

The title is interesting to me because I don't feel that it actually matches what the book is. I feel like the title is more in reference to a subplot about Zahara-Grace’s ancestor and the light speculative elements, but the actual book is about Zahara-Grace building a connection between two sides of her family and learning more about what her future could be in the process. Perhaps my feelings will change if there is a second book (and I would happily read it), but the title felt a lot more fantasy to me rather than contemporary.

I would recommend this to young readers who prefer contemporary fiction but are OK with a sprinkle of speculative elements and readers looking for fiction about adopted main characters

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finding out you’re actually a princess at age 12 is a common trope in MG lit. (I’m looking at you Serpent’s Secret.) So while this didn’t feel like the most original story, it's compulsively readable and short enough to be appealing to a wide range of readers. It should be noted, however, that it’s much more a story of the adopted Zahara-Grace and her relationships than an action-packed fantasy as the cover suggests. There is some magic and action, but it mostly comes in the final act.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wish this book existed ten years ago because i would have made it my entire personality.

also there better be a book two 👀

[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.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zahara Grace has a fantastic life, with good friends, a good school, and she loves horseback riding and fencing. She knows she was adopted, though, and has always wondered about her biological family. Her single mother and grandfather, who are raising her, have not yet given in to her getting her DNA tested, but her grandfather gives her a kit for her twelfth birthday. Before they even get the results, though, her mother tells Zahara Grace that she (the mother) did know Zahara Grace's mother, but was legally obligated not to reveal that until she turned twelve. Then, the DNA results show that she's 62% Maliwalan [no idea about spelling of that], and, coincidentally, the museum where her grandfather works is about to open a new exhibit about the history of Maliwala, the smallest African country. As if that weren't coincidence enough, Z's DNA shows that she's the granddaughter of the king of Maliwala, who happens to be in town for the exhibit, and is eager to claim their relationship. Z is not so sure. And then there's the legend that their family is cursed, and it has something to do with the mummies currently at the museum...

I don't think this book quite knew what it wanted to be. It could have been just a kid learning about a surprising heritage and adapting to it, like Princess Diaries, and that would have been fine. It could also have been a Rick Riordan Imprints-type fantasy about the magic and curses associated with the family (going back to Meroe and the Black pharaohs), and the attendant adventures, and that would also have been fine. Put together, this didn't 100% work for me, though I did enjoy it. I appreciated the representation of a Black character doing activities that might not normally be associated with such a character, and I thought the familial relationships were done well. I was uneasy with Z's defining characteristics being startling blue eyes, though I can't quite articulate why. I know that there are plenty of blue-eyed people on the African continent, after all. And all those coincidences really strained credulity.

However, the thing that TRULY annoyed me about the audiobook was that the narrator REPEATEDLY mispronounced words (gaping, dressage, corral, sconce, and so many more). Also, there was a character whose name I'm still not sure of, because it was pronounced in about seven different ways. My best guess is Persephone, but it could be Pasiffany, Parsiffany, Parsippany, etc. And it's a character who gets mad when other people mispronounce her name, but apparently no one has a clue how it's really pronounced? Ugh. So, I didn't dislike this one, but it had some drawbacks. Thanks to Libro.FM for a free educator copy of the audiobook.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throw a little mysticism and a curse into The Princess Diaries and set it in ancient Egypt during the time of Black pharaohs and make it for middle grade readers and you’ve got Sherri Winston’s Destiny of the Diamond Princess.

Adopted Zahara-Grace loves her mom and G-Pop but yearns to fill in the blanks about her birth family and on her 12th birthday, she gets answers that start with the fact that her mother has known who her birth parents were since she was only days old. Next comes the hard truth that both of them died as a result of a car accident but not before asking her mom to adopt her and keep their identity a secret until her 12th birthday. Reeling from the myriad of feelings coming from all this news, more revelations come in the form of her biological grandfather finding her and revealing her royal blood and naming her the Diamond Princess of Maliwanda, a small (fictional) country in the South Africa! Always a student of Egypt’s history, especially in regards to the Black pharaohs, all this comes as her G-Pop’s architectural work on an Egyptian museum is about to finish and Zahara-Grace’s biological grandfather (Baba) just happens to be there to present the museum with a blue diamond to be on display during the opening. Whew! It’s a lot. But Winston does it smoothly, incorporating bits of real history with some fabricated, along with a fictional curse, some solid friendships, a little fencing and a dab of horsemanship.

Readers are sure to be intrigued by the mix of fact and fiction and the subtle magic in a pendant that manifests in visions of Zahara Grace’s birth mom and feelings of impending doom. Zahara-Grace’s conflicted feelings about her biological and adoptive family seem realistic and may validate those of readers who are also adopted as well as help those who are not adopted understand those who are. Great modeling of supportive friends and an ending that could take some by surprise and will give a sense of satisfaction to those who predict at least parts of the conclusion. Being a stand alone novel coming in at only 260 pages is a definite plus.

*Profanity: none
*Violence: The climax does have some physical altercation but literally only a drop of blood is shed.
*Sexual content: none
*Representation: Main characters are Black, best friend Aafia’s family is from Ethiopia and she begins to wear a hijab in honor of her religious roots, other best friend Tally is attending Hebrew school in anticipation of her Bat-Mitzvah, Persephone and her museum curator aunt are Caucasian; foster kids, adoption, guardianship present
*LBGTQ+: none

Read alikes: Kane Chronicles (Riordan), City Spies: City of the Dead (Ponti), Goosebumps’ Return of the Mummy and The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb.

Thanks for the eARC, Edelweiss and Bloomsbury Kids.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Diaries, African style. Black, blue-eyed, adopted Zahara-Grace’s wish on her 12th birthday is to know more about her birth family. “Careful what…”: her loving, protective adoptive mom, Gwen. shares a letter and gifts from her dead birth mom— and the DNA test that she and Gwen and G-Pop (Gwen’s dad) complete triggers a reaction from an African king, who had been searching for her. She’s the princess of Maliwanda. Is this for real?
Meanwhile, G-Pop had renovated a nearby mansion as a museum exploring the BLACK roots of African culture and excellence. Z-G had been friends Persephone, with the descendant of the white collector. Now she’s back in town, and fixated on the idea of a curse on the Maliwandan royal family. She says they have to break the curse on the night of the new moon. Is THIS for real? But Z-G *has* been hearing voices and having visions, the lioness pendant from her mother heats up. So maybe P is right.
Almost two books: princess dairies style, with funny, loyal friends (“Perstephanie”), video dance challenges, cool gala outfits and fitting her two worlds together, and (the weaker aspect IMO) the fantasy, with awakened mummies, a huge blue diamond and drops of blood. Felt kinda tacked on.
Somehow it���s pretty entertaining. Suspenseful fun, with the added points of racism re: looting of ancient artifacts and racist attitudes toward ancient cultures and their accomplishments. Also, the adoption dynamics are nuanced and real; Z-G aspires to help other orphaned kids awaiting adoption.

[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.

[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.

[LS Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exciting first book in a series. I liked the discovery Zahara-Grace makes about herself, but also the dilemma it creates when she learns that she is adopted. Adopted kids might be able to relate to these feelings and see themselves in this book. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Danielle Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Chari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the book incorporated African culture and folklore, however, the ending seemed very abrupt. The adoption themes and found family were covered but the addition of new family members seemed a little too convenient. However, I’d happily hand it to a kid that is experiencing the same issue

[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!

[Hone]

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