Gossie is a gosling who likes to wear bright red boots every day, no matter what she is doing, and so she is heartbroken the day the boots are missing and she can't find them anywhere.
Grady the goose is left behind when her family leaves to fly to a warmer climate, but a helpful farmer finds her and reunites her with her parents and siblings.
A twelve-year-old orphan, Mosca Mye, and her homicidal goose, Saracen, travel to the city of Mandelion on the heels of smooth-talking con-man Eponymous Clent, driven by her love of language to find a better life.