The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

This is the first book in the Books of Bayern series. This was recommended to me by my sister-in-law a couple of months ago but I just wasn't that interested in it. I kept reading other books that I thought were more interesting and fun to read. I finally decided to try it out since I had heard of a couple other people reading it and was pleasantly surprised. I am curious if the other books will be better, the same, or worse so I'll let ya know when I get around to reading the rest. Ani, the queen princess has never lived up to her mothers expectations of becoming a true sophisticated queen. Instead, she prefers to be outside talking to birds. Obviously this isn't acceptable and Ani tries as she gets older to be the perfect princess. Unfortunately it just doesn't completely click with her and she finds herself comparing herself to her lady in waiting. After Ani's 16th birthday, the queen informs Ani that she has been promised to a prince in another area. On her travel to Bayern, the lady in waiting and most of the guards rebel with the intention of killing Ani and putting the lady in waiting in Ani's position as the future queen of Bayern. Ani barely escapes and finds herself as a goosegirl herding geese outside of the castle walls trying to find a way to let the king know she is the true princess while also concealing her true identity since the guards are still out trying to kill her. The story has a surprising amount of action, adventure, and a little bit of love.