MMGM- Fros, Fades, and Braids and Destiny of the Diamond Princess

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Always in the Middle 

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Unleashing Readers

Qualls, Sean. Fros, Fades, and Braids: A Brief History of Black Hair in America. 

January 20, 2026 by HarperCollins

E ARC provided by the publisher

This picture book sized, 64 page book is about the only history of Black hairstyles that I have seen, and my students and I have been looking for something similar for a long time! Twelve year olds are just starting to understand that the world has not always looked the way it does now, so brief fashion histories are always popular. While this is a more artistic and poetic overview of hairstyles, it will still see a lot of circulation. 

Illustrated in a vibrant collage style, the pages offer short snippets of information about a variety of techniques for styling Black hair, as well as context for their use. I knew about Madame C.J. Walker and Annie Malone's hair product empires, but didn't know that inventor Garrett Morgan (who developed the traffic light) also had a hair straightening product! There are discussions about why straight hair was culturally considered "good" while curly hair wasn't, and there are short bios of Black women who were known for their straight hair, like Josephine Baker and Billie Holiday. The "Conk" hairstyle was explained, as was the importance of beauty shops in Black culture. 

Moving from the beehive and bouffant styles of the 1960s, we see how the "free hair" movement encouraged Black people to embrace natural styles like the Afro. Later in the 70s and 80s, the Jheri Curl took over, and was rocked by men like Rick James and Lionel Ritchie. Locs, fades, and Braids all get their  mention, as does the importance of barbershops. 

This ends with an admonition to NEVER touch anyone's hair without permission, which is always good advice. The author ends with a note about the complex relationship that Black people have with their hair. 

This is all great information, and beautifully presented, but it would be great if there were a more straightforward history of Black hair that gave more historical context and was photoillustrated. Seeing period photographs gives another level of history, since the pictures also include clothing, surroundings, etc. There are great series of clothing described by the decade, and I would love to see something similar done with this topic. This is still a must purchase book for elementary and middle school libraries. 

Winston, Sherri. The Destiny of the Diamond Princess

January 20, 2026 by Bloomsbury Children's Books

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.