The Goose Girl/Shannon Hale

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale; young adult, fantasy; 400 pages (about 9 hours, listening)

This was one of my favorite fairy tales growing up, though I always wished there was more explanation included. Shannon Hale claims to have felt the same way, which is why she wrote her own interpretation of the story. This is my first foray into Hale's works, but I have to say that the praise I've heard is deserved. The characters were amazing, and I once again found myself unable to stop reading. The audio book was done with a full cast, so there are many different actors voicing the characters--which I also loved. If you're interested in the plot, I suggest checking out SurLaLune, which has the original story (with footnotes) as well as modern interpretations. Hale's book sticks to the original story pretty closely, but there's enough fresh material to make it work.