Goose Girl

Goose Girl is a book written by Shannon Hale about a princess named Anidori Kiladra Talianna Isilee.

Wow, fancy names in Kildenree, huh? Anyways, Hale sectioned this book off into three parts: Crown Princess, Goose Girl, and Yellow Lady.

"Crown Princess" shows Ani as she grew up, the heir to the throne of Kildenree. As a tiny child, she had little in the way of duties. Her free time was spent secretly learning the languages of animals, especially birds, from her aunt.

And then her aunt left, and Ani's secret was discovered. She had no more opportunity to speak to her beloved swans, and soon she lost all of her free time in the whirl of preparing for the future role of queen.

Then her father died, and her mother dropped a bomb right into the middle of Ani's life: The current queen did not want Ani to succeed her; she wanted Ani married off to the prince of the neighboring kingdom.

Ani could scarcely protest, because her mother had a gift herself: people-speaking, the power to confuse and persuade another person to see things the way the speaker wanted them to.

So a traveling company, complete with Ani's friend and lady-in-waiting Selia, was put together to help Ani on her three-month journey through the Forest to Bayern.