Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

"Fly by Night" is a 2005 young adult fantasy novel by British author Frances Hardinge. Set in a richly imagined world reminiscent of 18th-century England, the story follows Mosca Mye, a twelve-year-old orphan with a fierce intellect and a passion for reading in a society where books are considered dangerous. Accompanied by her loyal yet ill-tempered goose, Saracen, and the eloquent conman Eponymous Clent, Mosca becomes entangled in a web of political intrigue, secret societies, and revolutionary plots.