| Booktalk
#1
Oh have you no pity for the
poor goose girl who is orphaned and plagued by the twelve geese she has
sworn to care for as well as ogresses, bumbling princes, evil kings, enchanted
hair, enticing tears and her own lack of understanding. How can a fairy
tale have a happy ending when all is going awry! Enchantments and spells
can be very trying when survival is at stake. Read this very funny tale
and laugh all the way through it, just like a silly goose! (Jean
B. Bellavance for Pennsylvania
Young Reader's Choice Awards, 2003-2004)
Booktalk #2
"It seems to me that the combination
of great beauty and great wealth is a monstrous cruel handicap for a girl
who simply wants to tend to her own affairs and her own Geese." So
says 14-year-old Alexandria Aurora Fortunato, a.k.a. the Goose Girl.
Orphaned and alone, she befriends an old woman that gives her 3 magical
gifts. Gold dust falls from her hair, tears turn into diamonds and
her face is "as lovely as the dawn". King Claudio the Cruel wants
to marry her for her beauty and wealth, as does Prince Edmund. She
is held captive in a tower because she will not choose either the wicked
King or the dim-witted Prince. The 12 Geese that Alexandria takes
care of rescue her from the tower. But that is not the end of the
Goose Girl's problems. She is captured by three ogresses and then
Prince Edmund follows the Goose Girl and is captured by the ogresses.
They escape with the help of the 12 Geese but then they are captured by
an ally of the evil King and sent to a dungeon. Alexandria must now
marry the evil King. Do the prince and the Goose Girl escape?
Do they fall in love? Who will save Alexandria from marrying the
King? For a wonderful fantasy story based on fairy tales, read Goose
Girl by Patrice Kindl. (New
Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee, 2003) |
