I absolutely love the entire Royal Diaries series. They are all incredibly brilliant. MY favorite are Jahanara, Eleanor and Lady of Ch'iao Kuo. They're a great way to learn history. ( )

The Royal Diaries is a series of books presenting the imagined diaries of various princesses. In this case, it is the tale of Anacaona, a Taíno cacique (chief), who is also a warrior, a poet, a leader, and a diplomat.

While learning about this woman was certainly fascinating, the book was very tame. This is to be expected since the desired audience is younger preteen girls -- my sister was a big fan of the series when she was in Junior High -- and I probably would not have picked it up were it not written by Edwidge Danticat.

She does what she can with diary format (difficult as the Taíno had no written language). The writing was clean and precise, but unfortunately, also had that educational, now-you-are-learning-something-about-history-in-story-format feel to it, which is hard to avoid in books like this. Not a bad book for girls interested in princesses, and it definitely sparked enough of my interest in Anacaona that I would be willing to go learn more about her (which I suppose is partly the point). ( )

Anacaona's story begins in the year 1490 when she is about sixteen years old. Her uncle is the cacique, or supreme ruler, of their province of Xaragua, located in what is now Haiti. Anacaona and her older brother, Behechio, have been raised to become the future rulers of Xaragua. But Anacaona gives up her birthright to marry Caonabo, the cacique of the nearby province of Maguana. Anacaona loves her husband and is happy in her marriage, and her joy only increases after the birth of their daughter, Higuamota. But life for their people is about to change forever when strange pale-faced men arrive from the sea and threaten their way of life and their very survival.

The author has done an excellent job at bringing to life Anacaona and her Taino people, and their life before and after the arrival of European explorers. This book shows how tragic the "discovery" of the Americas ultimately was for these native people, who were nearly all decimated within a few decades of Columbus's arrival. This book is an excellent addition to the Royal Diaries series, but it is not really for younger readers of the series. Due to some of the content, I would recommend it more to teen readers who enjoy this series or who are interested in this subject. ( )

I think this is a good addition to the Royal Diaries series. The preface to the book explains that Anacaona's culture was an oral, not written, one, which involved some bending of the facts to fit the 'diary' format. Still, the author does a good job preserving the oral tradition by relating riddles and poems throughout. Anacaona is an interesting character, spiritual and empathetic but also a bit brutal at times (but not without provocation), and always aware of her responsibilities. ( )

The pale men have reached her shores. they were awakened at dawn by clamorous shouts of voices unlike any she has ever hear and the sight of men unlike any she ase ever seen… As her husband Caonabo and her emerged from there house…they immediately surrounded the plaza…to point hollow-looking metal sticks at them. From theses sticks they fired bursts of lightening into the air, which startled and frightened there people, forcing many to flee.
his eyes darting between the pale men’s lightning and there men running, Caonabo ordered our fighters to stand still. This did o good, for as There men kept fleeing, the pale men went on aiming their lightening rods at the clouds…It was if they were at war with gods. ( )